The Adventures of Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan in Faro, Yukon

Sick Boys

2012-01-27T09:46:00.000-08:00

It has been a tiring week in our house with sick kids. Cavan started with a fever on Monday and by Thursday it was a horrible sore throat. Advil and tylenol have been our best friends! The sore throat has by far been worse than the fever. He hasn't eaten since yesterday at lunch; it seems that everything he tries to eat hurts his throat too much and he just cries. Poor kid.

Hunter's teacher told me he was complaining of a sore tummy at school yesterday when I picked him up at noon. By 1pm he didn't want to move off the rocking chair. He stayed on the chair napping on and off until we put him in bed at 7pm. He was burning up at bedtime, so advil for him too.

I sure hope this runs it course soon. One thing I am thankful for is that Matt is working in Faro right now! I don't know how I would be managing this without him.

Here is Hunter asleep on Matt! It was such a funny position I had to take a photo.

And here is a very upset Cavan. A friend had just dropped off a cantaloup from Whitehorse; it is his favorite snack. But every time he tried a bite he would cry because of his sore throat. So sad to watch!

On Vacation

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

How I wish it was me on vacation! Instead, it is just my Etsy store that has been put into vacation mode at the moment. A store in Whitehorse has asked me a few times to send stuff in there to be sold on commission and I am finally getting around to sending my crafts in. However, that has left my Etsy site bare as can be! So it will be on vacation mode for probably the next two months.

Whitehorse will be busy with tourists during the upcoming Arctic Winter Games, Rendezvous and Yukon Quest. I am hoping to sell a lot of my stock in there since it has been quiet here now that the holidays are over.

So if you are in Whitehorse and shopping around for fur mittens, mukluks, hats, or even fur hair accessories, please stop into the Trapper's Cache on 2nd Ave. It is pretty hard to miss; it is the little log cabin with fighting moose on top!

Lovely Moments

2012-01-24T10:34:00.000-08:00

Once in a while the boys actually play well together. Those moments are few and far between, so it is nice to document them when they happen.

Here they are playing a board game that we got out of the Faro Toy Lending Library. It is called Snail's Pace Race and they love it. It is easy to play; they roll two colour coded dice and then move colour corresponding snails. They have to continually guess which snail will win the race!

We have taken this game out three times so far and they have figured out how to play it all on their own now. However, it always ends with Cavan stealing the dice or snails, running down the hallway, and squealing with glee as Hunter cries. But there are some very nice moments before that point!

Canadian Rite of Passage

2012-01-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

When I was six, my parents were inside my school attending my first grade parent teacher interview. I had been kicked outside to play at the playground. I don't remember much of that day other than how painful it was to pull my tongue off that flag pole. I have no clue what convinced me to try it. Perhaps there had been other kids there encouraging me to try; I don't remember the lead up to it at all. But that cold metal stuck to my tongue and the pure panic of not being able to pull it off is still with me. Then the embarrassment of thinking someone might find me stuck to the pole. I ripped my tongue off on my own and bled everywhere. A layer of my tongue was stuck to the pole and I am sure my parents were some unimpressed with me.

And now the next generation in my family has experienced that Canadian rite of passage.

While I was in the store picking up a few things on Friday, Matt and the boys were waiting in the truck. The boys love to eat icicles off of buildings during the winter (they will even steal them off of trucks, but we call those exhaust-cicles and try to convince they boys they are not for eating) and they asked Matt to grab them some off of the store. The boys discovered that at -37C icicles are not a good idea. Hunter stuck his right in his mouth and closed his lips around it. It stuck! Matt had to go into the back of the truck and try to gently pry Hunter's lips off of the icicle. Cavan was able to pull his icicle off of his lips on his own, so it must not have been stuck too badly. When I come out of the store, Matt was shaking he was laughing so hard while both boys are crying and screaming in the back seat. They were more upset about the icicles being thrown away than the pain!

When we got home and into the light I could see that Hunter had really hurt his lips. A layer of skin was missing and there was blood around his lips. They still look pretty painful even a couple of days later. Still pretty funny to think about though!

I am betting this will happen a few more times before they learn!

Three Month Surgiversary

2012-01-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

As of today it has been three months and two days since my bariatric surgery and I still feel that this has been best decision I have ever made regarding my health.

Since the surgery I have lost 44.5lbs and including the 11lbs I lost in the couple of weeks before the surgery I am down a total of 55.5lbs. Absolutely unbelievable. Each day I am now taking in 900 calories and aiming for 80 grams of protein. My stomach will still only hold about half a cup of solid food at a time, or three-quarters of a cup of soup or other liquid. I can finally manage to eat raw vegetables and I love having a few slices of cucumber or carrots with a bit of cheese for snacks.

It is still not without the struggles though. I am going through a mourning period right now. I miss food. I miss eating an entire plate of homemade lasagna, a bag of chips, an entire apple.... that list goes on and on. In the past I have always dealt with stress by eating, namely binge eating. This week was very stressful for me and at one point I went to the store and bought a bag of cookies. I ate two of them and felt sick. So I took the bag into the rec centre and fed it to the teenagers! Huge success for me; I got rid of those cookies and focused on proper food for the rest of the day. I am learning slowly how to deal with my emotions, which means actually letting myself feel them whether they are good or bad. There is no more hiding from my emotions and that is scary to think about, but it is also empowering for me.

I took my measurements for the first time in three months and was pretty astonished at the results there.

Chest has gone from 51" to 47.5" = 3.5" lost
Waist has gone from 52" to 48.25" = 3.75" lost
Hips have gone from 64" to 59" = 5" lost
Upper arms have gone from 17" to 16" = 1" lost

Woweeeee! I did have a thigh measurement, but it says up one inch, so I think we just measured in the wrong stop!

My goal is to lose another 10lbs over the following month.

PICTURES!!

Me at 319lbs back in August

Today at 263.5lbs

The day before surgery at 308lbs

Today at 263.5lbs

The day before surgery at 308lbs

Today at 263.5lbs

40% off!!

2012-01-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

One day only sale at Went North Creations!! Any ready made item is 40% off today. Use coupon code: onedayonly

Mittens, mukluks, bags, hair pieces..... Happy Shopping!

All items will be in the mail tomorrow.

Playing Out

2012-01-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

The wind died down and we bolted outside to enjoy the gorgeous day! Today it is -32C and the windchill is -40C. Earlier that windchill had been down to -44. A bit nippy!!

Staying inside all day with two energetic boys is enough to drive us completely mad. The only factor that keeps us indoors is the wind. I am thinking of buying goggles for the boys so that we could even get outside on the windy days.

Our gear for keeping the boys warm? Not expensive at all. They are both wearing Columbia jackets that we got for free at our free-cycle store here in Faro, $19 a pair snowpants from SuperStore (best snowpants ever!), toques that were made by our friend in Ross River, $24 boots from Walmart (they are both rated to -35C) and mittens and balaclava's from Mountain Equipment Co-op. Even those couple of items that we got from MEC aren't that expensive. Each pair of mittens was under $20 a pair and we just put a pair of $1 cotton mitts on under them. The balaclavas, actually called ninja-clava's were our most expensive item at nearly $30 each. At -40C, Cavan who is not even three yet, was able to be outside for 45 minutes before he was telling us his feet were cold. Next time I will throw a pair of my wool socks on him so he can last longer. It just goes to show you that you do not need the most expensive of gear on your kids up here. Just layer them smart and look for hand-me-downs!

Hunter is the king of the snow hill!

Toast warm under there!

Cute frosty eye-lashes on Hunter.

Monkey-man Cavan!

Another gorgeous day in the Yukon.

Matt pulling the kids on the sleigh.

My turn to pull! This is one heck of a good workout.

I am nice and warm under all my layers!

Congratulations Jackie!

2012-01-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

A fellow Faroite has just completed a huge project! Have you been following it?

Jackie Irvine set out with a lofty goal to paint 100 landscape paintings in 100 days. Well she has completed her project and I am in awe of her dedication.

If you haven't already, please go and check out her blog where she has posted each of her paintings as she has completed them. Her paintings show off the beauty of the Yukon, especially the areas around Faro.

Here is my favorite painting of the series and it is currently sitting in my kitchen window. Every time I look at it I smile and feel thankful for good friends.

Jackie's email is on the side of her blog if you are interested in purchasing any of her paintings.

Congratulations Jackie!

This week in sewing

2012-01-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

My hands only had a short break from sewing over the holidays and now they have been right back at it. This last week I have completed two custom orders for mittens and also my first pair of earmuffs. I am pretty happy with my first try at earmuffs; I have enough supplies to make five more pairs so I know what I will be doing tomorrow!

I had quite the brain fart moment one evening this week. I wanted to make three pairs of baby mittens. I cut the leather, the fleece and then sat down on the sofa for an evening of sewing. Well, to make three pairs of baby mittens you need twelve pieces of leather (four for each pair of mittens). I had cut out six- enough for one and a half pairs of mittens! I had done the same with the fleece. Was definitely not thinking when I cut those out.

Wolf fur mittens. Moose hide, rabbit trim and fleece lined.

Beaver mittens. Moose hide, beaver trim and fleece lined.

Ear muffs! Sheared beaver dyed red, red fleece inside.

In all honesty

2012-01-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

I follow an online forum for people who have had the same weight loss surgery as I have. I have been surprised at home many people choose not to share their choice to have surgery, even with close friends and family.

I am guessing they chose not to out of feelings of shame or embarrassment for turning to surgery to help get their lives back. There have been no lack of those feelings here either! My concern is that it will give people false hope about weight loss. I wouldn't want someone to think that I am doing this all on my own. Sure I could keep it a secret and when someone asks me how I have gotten the weight off I could reply with, "Oh, just changed my eating habits." But it just isn't honest and I know I couldn't do it.

Boys and Buns

2012-01-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

Bun making with boys:

Cavan helping to knead the dough.

Whooops. Forgot to get him to wash his hands first!! Check out those marker coloured hands. Ah well, the dough needed some extra colour, right?

Nice and squishy between the fingers.

Big brother has to get in on the action.

Hunter's expression here just cracks me up!

Dough has risen and time to grease the pans.

Punching it down is always the most fun.

Delicious cinnamon buns rising.


Fresh out of the oven and ready to feed our friends! The boys and I made four dozen cinnamon buns and four dozen buns.

Resolutions and Three Month Report

2012-01-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

I am a goal setter by nature. There are to do lists that I have made up for the day, week and year. In my head I have goals that I have for the next decade. It all just comes with my personality and love of organization. I always work best when I have a goal in mind.

So my goals or resolutions for this year:
1. Do more crafting with Cavan. Our little wild-child loves to paint and colour and we find time to do it every day already. But it needed to be better organized. To help with this goal I have re-organized our dining room to make space for a shelving unit to hold all of the art supplies. Up until now they have been out in a wheeled storage tower, but it wouldn't hold much at a time. Now that it is all out and organized it will be easier to do each day.

2. Numeracy and literacy work with Hunter. Hunter loves school, but so far the only focus there has been getting into routines and there has not been much focus on numeracy and literacy. Matt and I believe in learning through play with young kids, and especially outdoor play. I need to work at adding to his skill set through play. We already know he has a love of numbers, counting, stacking and organizing so I will work to expand on that. I want to start working on sight words with him too. He has a fantastic memory and is recognizing words in the books that we read. This month I want to create a sight word wall that he can add words to. I love seeing his desire to learn and how quickly he takes in new knowledge!

3. Find more free time for Matt. Not for me, just for him! He works a lot and by the time he gets home I am tired and want a break so I pass the boys on to him. He is a fantastic dad and loves his boy time, but he needs some alone time too. Time to work on projects that can be difficult to do with spirited boys underfoot. I am not sure how I am going to do this one; perhaps I will just duct tape the boys to wall and then Matt and I can both work on our projects!

4. Expand my sewing skills and my business. This is an on-going resolution and has been for the last four years. I purchased some books on sewing techniques and a projects and would love to dive right into them. I made a good chunk of money from from sales over the last month, so I can easily replenish my supplies and get to work. I am debating on buying a fur sewing machine as well, but that might wait until spring. I am going to work at expanding my business through more free advertising and some different craft shows throughout the year.

5. And something random for the list: remember to water my house plants before they die. I love my plants, but am not great at taking care of them. Thank goodness they are hearty and most have done alright in the drought conditions in my house.

6. Last one. I saw this quote on facebook last week and I think I need to re-read it at least once a week to keep it in mind: Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you.

And now on to my THREE MONTH REPORT!!

Three months ago, to the day, I started my pre-surgery diet in preparation for my gastric sleeve gastrectomy surgery. I lost 11lbs prior to the surgery that I had on October 19th. As of this morning I have lost a total whopping 49.4lbs. Unbelievable! I have just under three weeks until my three month surgery anniversary and I am hoping to lose another 5-10lbs in that time. I will post pictures on the 19th of this month to show my progress.

Eating wasn't too bad over the holidays. Having this stomach restriction makes it easy to not overeat. I was still able to have some treats, but very small amounts. I am consuming between 800 and 1000 calories a day and still with a focus on protein. January will be a bit harder for me. Matt is going to be away almost the entire month working in Ross River. I tend to binge eat more when he is away. I will have to distract myself with outside play, sewing and friends so I don't try heading down that path.

My energy levels are still through the roof. While I haven't started exercising formally, I am outside every day pulling the boys on their sled, climbing snow hills and shoveling. I will have to start on my weight training soon though. The trainer that I met with in Seattle while down there for my surgery gave me an easy to use plan. I have the appropriate weights in the house and just need to set time aside a few times a week to give it a try.

I am also happy to report that I have recovered all of the weight loss and gain that I had in 2010. I lost 50lbs on my own in 2010, but then gained all but two pounds back by the middle of 2011. I am now into new territory with the start of the new year and I couldn't be happier.

Welcome 2012! It is going to be one heck of an exciting year!

Nose Picking, Willy Grabbing and Scene Stealing: Our Christmas!

2011-12-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was nearly perfect! The only part I would like to do over would be the part where I suffered through a nasty headcold.

We have been spending our days visiting with friends, baking, sledding, climbing the giant snow hill, warming up by bonfires, eating baking, more visiting..... All around fun and relaxing times! At one point we ended up at a gully in town with about a dozen other families. We were sliding down and then being hauled back up by skidoos. So fantastic.

Christmas day was pretty low-key here. Presents were opened by gleeful boys, chocolate was consumed by the pound(s) and we went sledding with another family. We didn't have company for supper and I just cooked a big ham in the crockpot. We watched Cars 2 and all crashed pretty early that night.

I love that Faro gives us so much time to just relax and enjoy the family time. With only two stores (the general store and liquor store) there isn't much for last minute shopping or Boxing Day sales.

This video is one of the most memorable moments of the holiday. My kids crack me up.

Nose Picking, Willy Grabbing and Scene Stealing:

Rink Rats

2011-12-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

Our family has started to live at our local rink! We are full on rink rats now.

Hunter is taking skating lessons and we are so impressed at quickly his balance and coordination are improving. We got to at least two public skates a week and Matt also helps out with youth hockey a couple times a week. The arena is busy spot!

It is also quite the steal compared to larger centers. Hunter is signed up for two sessions of skating lessons and we also have a family pass to cover all public skates for the season. The cost? $195. Amazing! Plus the arena has heaps of used skating gear that you can borrow. Both boys are using skates that belong to the town. We did buy them their own helmets. What an inexpensive way to entertain our kids over the winter. And if you cannot afford that fee? The town of Faro has a lot of grant money for recreation to hand out to families to cover that costs with just a bit of paperwork. How great is that!

Skating lessons with Michelle and Emily. Hunter is in the middle.

Don't want to skate? There are lots of toys and games to use as well!

Learning how to turn.

Craft time at the rink! Reindeer!

Alex and Cavan racing chairs.

My Tools of Distraction

2011-12-19T13:02:00.000-08:00

Prior to having my weight loss I put a lot of though into how I was going to distract myself after surgery to keep from eating. Binge eating has been part of my life since I was a young child and I knew it was going to be a really hard habit to break. But I am breaking that cycle little by little as each week progresses.

Here are my best tools of distraction:

A friend gave me a very generous monetary gift and I used it to buy some things for myself that I would never have done else wise. I bought a Kindle and a bunch of books, an online subscription to a weight loss magazine, and a subscription to a month beauty product sampler. All things I would have felt so bad spending our own money on, but they have been so fantastic at helping me. Thanks Letia for playing such a big role in my success so far!

If I am typing I can't be eating! And I have been drinking a lot of Crystal Lite to make sure I get all my fluids in during the day. Thank you to everyone that I correspond with online.

Train building with Hunter keeps me away from food.

My sewing machine and hands have been in overdrive filling orders for Christmas! Again, if I am sewing I am not eating. I have some exciting ideas to start with in the new year as I work to expand my business out of the traditional crafts and into new areas.

I love shoveling. I really do! I am keeping our driveway well groomed after each snowfall. Time outside just boosts my energy levels and burns up calories.

These boys are professionals at distracting me! They had a friend sleep over for two nights this week and I was so busy, there was definitely no time to think of eating.

Any other suggestions for ways to keep myself distracted?

First Christmas Concert

2011-12-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

Last night we attending our first Christmas concert as parents and it was fantastic! I have been hearing from other parents that a number of schools no longer put on Christmas concerts and I so glad this isn't the case in Faro. The whole evening was so well planned right down to a spaghetti supper for the kids before the concert. Thank you to all of the teachers and volunteers who helped make the evening so memorable!

I was secretly hoping that my kid would do something on stage that I could blackmail him with later in life. But Hunter got up there and sang his little heart out along with his classmates. Cavan was upset the entire evening that he could not get up on stage with the other performers. School cannot come soon enough for that one.

Here is the video from the Kindergarten class and a few other photos:

Time for makeup!

Cavan wasn't too impressed with some of the performances.

Cavan and his buddy Alex really wanted to be part of the performance.

So they opted to put on quite the performance of their own.

Our little reindeer!

Soon this will get exciting.

2011-12-11T07:46:00.001-08:00

In another 7.5lbs my life is going to become a lot more interesting.

Here is a picture of me from one year ago- December 2010- at 271lbs:

And here I am 8 months later in August of 2011 at 319lbs:

And a photo of me now in December 2011:

In 2010 I lost 50lbs. I went from 321lbs to 271lbs in twelve months. But then over an 8 month period I gained all but two pounds back. That huge failure played a major role in my decision to have weight loss surgery.

I have nearly made up that loss and in another 7.5lbs I will be back at 271. The weight that I have lost since surgery has been great, but I think it will be a heck of a lot more exciting once I break through that old barrier.

Since October 1st, I have lost a total of 40.5lbs. Eleven pounds of that was prior to surgery and then since surgery on the 19th of October I have lost another 29.5lbs. I am hoping to hit 50 by the new year!

My Favorite Christmas Cookie

2011-12-08T14:44:00.001-08:00

Every year at Christmas time I send an email to the mother of one of my dearest friends. Each year the email is the same:

Help! I want to make your awesome shortbread cookies but don't remember where I wrote the recipe down!

And every year this lovely woman shares her recipe and wishes of love for our family.

I have had a few requests for the recipe and I am sure she wouldn't mind me sharing it. So here it is with my little tweaks:

Shortbreads

1 cup soft butter

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup fruit sugar (comes in those little bags also called Berry Sugar)

Cream butter and add sugar gradually. Beat until almost white. (Then I whip it in my kitchen aid for about 6 minutes)

Add 1 3/4 c flour gradually. Whip again once all of the flour is added for 2 minutes.

Roll into tiny balls and squish a little hollow into the top of each ball with your thumb. Put half of a glazed cherry into the hollow.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes

The cookies don't brown up except for a little on the bottom. And good luck trying not to eat a dozen by yourself right when they come out of the oven!

Thank you Mrs. Whitrow!

Sense of Community

2011-12-06T21:38:00.001-08:00

Just over a week ago I attended the annual Church Ladies Tea and Craft Bazaar here in Faro. It is a fun event held every December. Tables are rented out crafters, artists and other groups and the public pays $2 to get in to shop and enjoy tea, coffee and lots of snacks.

We have only lived in Faro just coming on four years and I have had a table each of those four years at the bazaar. But this year blew my mind! There were 26 tables rented out this year. And then the community came and filled the rec center right up!

It is so fantastic to see this little community thriving, especially during the holidays. There were kids running around stealing snacks off the tables, adults mingling and sharing laughs over tea and money was being spent locally! Faro is turning into quite the busy little hub.

The view from the stage in the rec centre gym. Busy place!

We tied a helium balloon to Cavan and then laughed as he tried to run away from it.

Darn thing just kept chasing him!

And I am pretty sure my children ate their weight in cookies that day. Every time I looked up I would see either them stealing a cookie from a table or someone feeding them a cookie and giving me an evil grin! I love living in a community where my children can freely run around and the worst thing I have to worry about is how many cookies they ate.

Having A Sale!

2011-11-29T14:17:00.001-08:00

Have you been thinking of buying a pair of fur mittens? Or maybe a pair of mukluks or a hat? Then time to take advantage of my holiday sale at Went North Creations!

There are coupon codes on my etsy site to not only give you 11% off your total, but also free shipping!

Happy shopping!

Craft Show Success!

2011-11-20T19:02:00.001-08:00

The craft show was a huge success and definitely worth my time to drive in from Faro for the night. Not only did I make $1400 that day, but I have a few custom orders as a result of the business cards I handed out yesterday. Now I am just trying to decide what types of new furs I am going to buy to try sewing with next!

I am really proud that my hobby is completely self-sustaining and has been for the last couple of years. It never seems right to me to spend our family money on my hobby when it could be better spent or saved. Lately I have been dreaming of an industrial sewing machine and a fur machine, so maybe a bunch of this will go into that dream fund!

My table! I just purchased some nice display units and they really made a difference.

Twirly display for the key chains and hair clips/elastics.

Three tier display for headbands.

Mitten rack thanks to Matt!

Hat area.

Here is Vicky, my friend from Ross River, who nearly sold out! Her table had maybe 12 items left. Great job Vicky!!

Packing My Meals

2011-11-18T12:25:00.001-08:00

I am packing up my meals for the rest of today and all of tomorrow since I will be traveling to and from Whitehorse. I am not ready to try anything at a restaurant unless it is soup, and I eat so little there is really no point ordering anything! So I have packed a little cooler of meals for myself. Here is what my next nine meals will look like (I am trying for six small meals a day right now):

I have a container of greek yogurt, left over chicken stew, left over moose pasta sauce with a few pieces of penne, hard boiled egg, homemade tuna antipasto, egg salad with a couple of crackers, two types of cheese, a sugar free jello, a banana and my vitamins. I haven't tried fruit yet, but am hoping that banana tastes really good! I can only have a bit at a time, but I am still looking forward to it. Half a cup of food at a time is seeming just perfect right now. And then a number of water bottles and extra crystal lite packets. I am ready to go!

All of my work is in the back of a friends vehicle and we are heading out early this afternoon. I have my fingers crossed that I sell a bit at the craft show tomorrow. If you live in Whitehorse, please stop in and say hello! Check out how cute my baby headbands look now that I have them packaged:

Four Weeks

2011-11-16T19:43:00.001-08:00

It has been four weeks since I went through with my life changing decision to have weight loss surgery. This past weekend, one of my close friends commented that she was pretty sure that 20lbs had come off my face! It is so true. My face is where I notice my weight loss the most.

So how much have I lost?

30.5lbs!!

Okay, now that number does include the 11lbs that I lost on the pre-surgery diet I was on. To be clear then, I have lost 30.5lbs since October 1st and 19.5lbs since I had the surgery four weeks ago. I went ten days during that four week period where I didn't lose a single pound either. My body was in a state of shock and there was no way in hell it was letting go of its hibernation layer. But then for the last week it has been coming off rather quickly.

When I started my pre-surgery diet I was 319lbs and today I was 288.5.

I feel fantastic now. My energy has me going steady until about 7pm and then I crash. I am sleeping for at least seven hours a night. Each day is still pretty much the same regarding food- five to six meals a day of half a cup servings. The meals are high protein and still soft so my stomach can deal with them easily.

Since I am now four weeks post-op, I am now cleared for all activity! I have to start with some weight training and increasing my walking each day. Another week or so and I will add some more foods into my eating plan. Slow steps, but I am making it!

Me holding Faro's newest baby back in August (weight about 319lbs)

Me earlier this week (weight 290). Not sure if you can see the difference, but I sure can!

Semi-Lazy Sunday

2011-11-13T16:41:00.001-08:00

Even after staying out late last night (playing pictionary with other adults!) and not getting a lot of sleep, my energy is 100% today and I am feeling like my old self! The old self that hates sitting around and needs to be productive.

This morning we had a friend and her sons come over for a visit. I was able to stitch and bitch at the same time and made a pair of booties identical to these:

A bit of house cleaning, laundry and then a trip to the school run coffee shop to visit with some other families.

Then back home where I broke out the paints for the boys:


So thankful for paints that wipe clean off the floor. And can you see the sock in the plant behind Cavan? I have no clue who shoved that in there... Boys!

Then while the boys drew on paper and played with picture cards I made this:

Coyote fur headband. Fully adjustable with velcro on the back and lined with fleece.

Now the boys and I are watching a movie while Matt is working down at the Health Centre. Hopefully he isn't out all night! I am thinking of starting a pair of seal mittens this evening. Only six more days until I attend the craft show in Whitehorse.

The next couple of photos are from yesterdays bouts of productivity:

Matt made me this mitten rack to take to craft shows! I can display 12 mittens at a time.

Wolf fur headband. Lined with fleece and fully adjustable with velcro.

I love semi-lazy Sundays!

Good Stuff

2011-11-11T21:18:00.001-08:00

So much good stuff from today....

After watching other children and adults lay wreathes during the Remembrance Day ceremony, Hunter asked me if he could too. I said of course and told him to head to the back of the gym and ask the adult in charge (a friend of ours) if he could help. He ran back there all on his own and then helped with laying two wreathes. At four years old, he is already one heck of a confident and adventurous kid.
Seeing that gym filled to standing room only made me a little teary-eyed. Especially seeing all of the families in attendance.
My crafting sales are picking up with the holiday season approaching. Within minutes of posting pictures of some recently made items, I had five sales! Next weekend I am going into Whitehorse for a big craft show and I sure hope I have success there.
I have turned the corner in regards to recovering from my surgery. My energy is returning bit by bit. In another week I should be cleared to exercise more than just walking and I can lift things again. That almost means I have to start vacuuming again. Darn.
Since October 1st, I have lost 27lbs. Wow.
We had friends over for supper tonight and it was just a few hours of laughing and chatting. Plus I made fantastic moose stew that I could eat.
And I got to hold a little baby boy for about half an hour. Were my boys really that little once? Oh that was a lovely half an hour.

I love crafting! Both of these headbands are now heading up to their new home in my old home of Kugluktuk!

I love Amazon

2011-11-10T09:38:00.001-08:00

Box arrived in the mail today! I am going to be keeping myself very busy this winter. It is always nice to treat myself to some new books from my mitten making money.

I am excited to start so many new projects!!

Support Local Artists

2011-11-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

Please come and support Yukon artisans by attending the Spruce Bog Craft Show on Saturday November 19th at the Canada Games Center from 11am to 5pm.

There you will be able to find me and all of my wares. Mittens, mukluks, baby booties, hats, key chains, hair accessories and more! Take a look at my Etsy store to see a few of the items that I will be bringing with me: Went North Creations on Etsy

Right next to me you will find Vicky, a friend from Ross River, also selling all of her goodies! She makes beautiful hair clips, unique magnet sets and nifty snack bags. Lots of great stocking stuffers on her table.

Why spend your money at the box stores on crappy gifts when you can purchase unique, locally made products?

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Simon's Cat

2011-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

We have been watching Simon's Cat on youtube for the last year. The boys have those full on belly laughs whenever they watch it, especially this episode:

Another week down

2011-11-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day back at parenting and I am exhausted! For the last week I have had childcare for the boys during the day and Matt has been home in the evenings. I haven't had to do much during the day other than reading, napping and a lot crafting! Pretty darn nice- thank you friends who took the boys off of my hands!

I am having to phase out my own napping since I was staying up too late into the night. Sigh. Those naps were glorious and energizing. Each day I am trying to get in a few more calories, but it is tough getting even 500 calories in during the day. It hasn't helped that I have had three weeks straight of diarrhea (yep, more information than you wanted yet again) that has been so horrible that I haven't wanted to leave my house. Today though, an eye-opening thought- it might be the protein drinks that I have to drink each day that are causing all my problems. Today I didn't drink one and I got out of my house!! So I am going to stop drinking them and work at getting in all of the protein I need each day through my food. Again, tough since I eat so little.

On the phone with my nutritionist today, I mentioned that I haven't lost any weight in the last week. She told my that my body is pretty much in shock and is holding on to everything it can for as long as it can! Come on body- give up that fat!! Slowly I am moving away from purees and into soft foods. Today I was able to eat cheese, tuna fish, meatballs and rice. It felt great to eat food rather than drink it.

I also had my first experience with food tasting different. I had heard that after weight loss surgery some foods would taste odd. There was a nice bit of brie cheese in the fridge so I cut myself off a piece. Well it tasted like Buckley's Cough Syrup! Horrible! I was so upset that I nearly cried (yes, I am a bit emotional going through all of this) because I just wanted that brie to taste good after my weeks of fluids and purees. A friend on facebook looked into it for me and sent me a article that had this to say about it:

Actually, this is a common occurrence for most people after gastric bypass surgery. Even some people who have lost a lot of weight non-surgically over a relatively shorter period of time will experience this phenomenon. This is due to something that is called “ketosis.”Typically, when you are losing weight, your body will start to break down your stored carbohydrates for energy. However, these stores are not that plentiful, especially for those people who have had GBPS. After GBPS, you usually are not eating many carbohydrates. Instead, you are emphasizing your protein intake. Likewise, some of the popular diets that result in rapid weight loss are carbohydrate-restricting. Thus, your body begins to deploy your fat stores for energy and this results in ketosis. As the fatty acids are broken down in the liver, the body forms “ketone bodies.”The ketone bodies are released into the bloodstream to deliver fuel to the body. Excess ketone bodies can turn into a form of acetone. Acetone is eliminated through the breath and the urine. With higher keotone bodies and acetone levels, your taste is altered. This is the reason that foods may not taste the same as before your surgery during your rapid weight loss.Do not despair. Ketosis also induces a state of greater satiety. As your weight loss slows and your body is burning less fat stores for energy, the ketosis reverses. Your sense of taste will be restored to that of presurgical levels.Dr. Kathleen T. Baskett is medical director of the St. Vincent Healthcare Weight Management Clinic and author of “Moving Forward: The Weigh to a Healthier Weight.”

Hopefully brie will taste better one day, but it will take a long time before I am brave enough to try it again!

Now for pictures from the last week:

The pirates pillaging the neighbourhood.

Enjoying their loot! We let them eat whatever they wanted that night. After that just a piece each day and Matt has been scarfing the rest!

Puff ball key chains.

Puff ball hair elastic.

Coyote and moose hide mittens!

Oh these mittens are puffy!

Evenings are now spent in hibernation mode watching Thomas the Train.

This what I get when I ask the boys to stand beside one another for a photo.

So, how are you doing?

2011-11-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

I have been hearing that a lot lately. And to be honest, not great. Normal, but not great.

My body is having a tough time adjusting to the pureed food I am eating. It is hard work trying to get my five small meals in a day. I have gone down to eating about 1/3 of a cup at a time as 1/2 a cup was a bit too much and was causing some pain. But after I eat, my guts just churn and gurgle and I am off running to the bathroom with horrible diarrhea. I know, too much info, but that is what you get on my blog!

I contacted my surgeon (who has had the surgery himself), along with my nutritionist and what I am experiencing is very normal. The advice I got was to just make sure I am getting in a lot of fluids and not to worry, my body will adjust over the next few weeks.

Right now I feel as though I have had a horrible stomach flu for the last three days. I am very weak and tired. While I felt lame at the beginning of the week having my kids in care, I am so thankful for it now. There is just no way I would have been able to deal with the boys during the day on my own. I am now thinking I will need to ask for more help again next week as I just need more time to heal. This is tough for me. I want to be outside enjoying all of the snow and taking the boys sliding or doing things around my house. I like to be busy and productive!! However, I am learning to enjoy my quiet house with a blanket and a book.

I am very grateful for all of our friends that have been dropping off suppers each night! I have been able to truly take time to heal thanks to the kindness of people here in Faro!

Halloween Prep

2011-10-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

We are all ready for Halloween tomorrow! The boys even did a practice trick or treating round when they were visiting with their grandparents.

Yesterday we carved pumpkins and did a little bit of decorating. Poor Cavan fell off the table in the middle of our carving fun and really hurt his arm. He screamed for a while, refused to let us touch it, and then fell asleep for 12 hours! Today he is using it and there is only a small bit of bruising, so we think he is okay.

They are mighty excited to head out around the town tomorrow collecting loot. Both boys will be dressed as pirates. We have a children's book about a little mouse who falls asleep beside an old metal kettle and he dreams that he becomes a pirate. The book is called, "Kettleship Pirates" and the little mouse at one points says, "Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of milk!" Now whenever we ask the boys what a pirate says they respond with that. It is adorable!

Cavan claiming his pumpkin.

Hunter was brave enough this year to help with scooping the guts!

The puking pumpkins at our entrance way.

A rather menacing looking pirate!

Made it Home- Updates Galore!

2011-10-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

The six days have been a bit of a blur! Most of that blur was narcotic induced....

After the surgery I had a lot of problems with nausea, dizziness and grogginess. I had been taking a fairly heavy duty pain killer called Roxacet- it is oxycodone mixed with tylenol. The side effects from that drug were worse than any of the surgery pain. I couldn't focus longer than a facebook update, couldn't read a book or watch a movie. I was in a fog for days! After talking with the surgeon on my Monday appointment I stopped taking it and went to chewable children's tylenol. It was like night and day! Once the drugs were out of my system I felt alert and rather chipper! I have no clue how people get hooked on those type of drugs- definitely not my type of high. Since Thursday I haven't even had to take the chewable tylenol.

My appointment on Monday went great. I am healing just fine and the weight is definitely coming off. As of this morning I had lost 13lbs since my surgery and 24lbs since the beginning of October (pre-surgery diet for a few weeks). Mighty successful month!

We started the travel home on Wednesday and got to Edmonton that day to meet up with the boys. My mother had taken them to Galaxy Land in West Edmonton Mall right before seeing us. I am pretty sure they were more excited about going on those rides than they were about seeing us! They had a fantastic couple of weeks with their grandparents- of course they were spoiled rotten.

Thursday we made it to Whitehorse. I have to say I am in love with the play area in the Edmonton airport. The boys spent over 2 hours on it and were sad to leave it and the little girl they had made friends with while playing there. We didn't get in until early evening, so we spent the night in Whitehorse.

Friday we hit up the dentist for all of the guys. Hunter looks great while Cavan has two huge cavities and he will probably have to be knocked out to have them dealt with. How is it with two boys who eat the same and have their teeth brushed the same can turn out so different?? Nothing like feeling like a crappy parent when the dentist is telling you about those nasty cavities! So we will have to take him in again soon to figure out what we will be doing with that. We did a rather large grocery shop since the pantries were empty and then made for home.

Now we keep telling everyone how amazing it is to live in Faro. Most people think we are absolutely insane to live out here. But here you go- another reason why this town is the perfect home.... Two of my friends had snuck into my house and cleaned it the day before we arrived (washed out my fridge, bathrooms, swept the floors, folded some laundry), then at 6pm there is a knock at the door and a friend is there delivering supper and she also mentions that suppers have been arranged for us for the next week. Woweee! Neighbours have been phoning to check in on us and see if we need anything at all. We are absolutely spoiled here in this town. Thank you Faroites!!

I have progressed from the liquid diet onto purees. Thank goodness! If I had to have another chicken flavoured protein drink I am pretty sure I would have barfed. My first pureed meal was chili from a can and it tasted heavenly to me. I will be on purees for the next 10 days or so and then onto soft foods. I can still only eat about 1/2 a cup of puree at a sitting and it is only taking me about half an hour to eat that. I have three meals a day and two snacks. I have to eat meals that are really high in protein and I am trying to get my calories up to around 800 a day. It is really hard to do when I consume so little. Today I only hit 600. I still don't really feel hungry, but my head keeps telling me that I want to consume everything in sight. Damn you brain! Leave my poor stomach alone!

So I am loving being home and looking forward to getting into our winter schedule- lots of visiting, playing in the snow, crafting and hot chocolate! Hurray for winter!

Thank you to everyone who has been sending me messages of encouragement. The last two weeks were definitely tough, but I think the rewards are going to be well worth it!

Asking for Help

2011-10-24T17:09:00.001-07:00

I am not good at asking for help. Well unless I am being lazy on the sofa and want my husband to refill my water. Then I am all for asking (read: whining) for help.

I am good at offering help though. Helping others is how I enjoying contributing good to the world around me. Cooking meals, offering to watch a friend's kid, watching over a house while someone is away, providing helpful moving information to a potential Faroite..... I love being helpful in someway or another.

But when it is my turn to ask for help... well I cannot help but feel like a pain. Not that I am striving to be that Super Mom that does everything! That is definitely not me. I just know that other people have busy lives and busy schedules and I hate to interrupt their lives.

Today though, I had to ask for help. I needed to arrange childcare for the week after I arrive in Faro. We just recently had a dayhome open up in town and I am taking advantage of that. However, having both kids in it all week was going to get expensive. So I asked some friends for help to fill in the gaps. Of course they are amazing and I have a few offers in already.

Perhaps it was the crazy drugs I am on, but when a friend offered to take them for a large portion of the week, I started to cry! I am so thankful that we live in a small community where people look out for each other. A couple of friends have offered to cook a couple of meals for Matt and boys once we get back as well. I am blessed to be surrounded by such amazing friends.

How beautiful a day can be
When kindness touches it!
~George Elliston

The Bad Day

2011-10-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my first bad day.

I was sore from probably overdoing it physically the day prior, my head was telling me I needed food, and I felt like a wuss for needing the pain medication. It was not a pleasant day.

All day long I wanted real food. Not my protein shakes or watered down yogurt. I wanted fries, burgers, chocolate.... all the crappy comfort foods. It didn't help that every single commercial on tv was telling me about all of the food I could not have. My stomach wasn't hungry, just my head.

I had a lot of pain in my sternum and I could not get comfortable in any position. I could not walk very far without feeling tired. It was just a crappy day overall.

But I made it through. I distracted myself by reading, surfing the net, humour, and movies. I turned to friends for support online. And I rested.

Today I am not feeling much better physically, but I am mentally. I know I am going to have many more days like this and it is just going to get harder. But I made it through the first hard day so I am off to a good start.

Full Liquid Diet

2011-10-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

I have had a number of friends ask questions about what I can eat after surgery. It isn't exciting, that is for sure!

Right now I am on a full liquid diet. It is giving my stomach a chance to heal from the surgery, keeping pressure in my stomach low, and keeping hydrated to avoid nausea. The goals I am trying to hit during the day are:
- 60-80grams of protein
- 6-8 cups of fluids
- multivitamins

So what can I eat?
- protein drinks
- fat free or 1% milk
- reduced fat cream soups that are blended or strained so they have no particles
- light or greek yogurt
- pudding and jello
- broth
- apple juice

It takes me a very long time to drink anything. I take tiny sips at a rate of about 2oz every 15 minutes. I am constantly sipping on something!

In the morning and evening I take a liquid multi-vitamin. I will be adding in calcium, vitamin D and B12 in a couple of weeks once I move past the full liquid diet.

If I drink something too quickly or take too large of a sip I feel like someone has punched me in the sternum. It is a pretty miserable feeling. I get the same feeling when I am outside walking around. It is just going to take a while to heal.

So a typical day on the full liquid diet looks like this:
breakfast: 8oz protein drink
snack: 1/2 cup sugar free pudding
lunch: 1/2 cup chicken broth
snack: 1/2 cup thinned yogurt
supper: 8oz protein drink

In between each of those meal times I am sipping water or a small bit of juice. I am taking in about 500 calories a day right now. Right now my favorite is a chicken protein drink and the chocolate protein drink. I mix the chocolate protein power with milk and it tastes just like chocolate milk.

I will be on liquids until I get home to Faro. Stay tuned in a week or so to find out about the pureed food stage. Yippeee!

Two Days Post-Op

2011-10-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

**Caution- graphic photos of my guts at the end of this post- not for the faint of heart!**

I had my surgery on Wednesday and am on the mend!

My surgery was started around 9:30am on Wednesday and the last thing I remember once in the operating room was Craig, the anesthesiologist, saying things will get a bit fuzzy! And wham I was out! I woke up in a bed feeling like I had been run over by a truck. The surgeon said my surgery was text book and my guts looked lovely.

I have had been under anesthesia once before about 10 years ago and I had a horrible reaction to it. When I woke up after that surgery I could not stop throwing up and had to stay in the hospital overnight. Same thing this time around! I was full of anti-nausea drugs when I went into the surgery and they gave me more afterwards, but it didn't do much. I was dry heaving constantly. The six incision sites on my tummy were in agony, but the back and sternum pain were the worst. We could not get the nausea and pain under control, so I had to stay overnight in the clinic. I spent the night being pumped full of pain medication and fluids. It was not a pleasant night.

All of the staff at Puget Sound Surgical Center were amazing. The care was second to none. My nurse even gave me her cell phone at one point so I could call Matt and chat. He had gone back to the hotel room to get some sleep. All of the surgeons checked in on me before they went home for the night as did the day shift nurses. All lovely people!

By the next morning, about 20 hours after my surgery, we finally had the nausea and pain under control and I was set free! I came back to the hotel and spent most of the day sleeping or sipping on water and apple juice. The pain medication is definitely my friend. I was exhausted just going from the chair to the bathroom and back.

I had a good sleep last night and today I even got out for a short walk. I get dizzy easily; I almost feel as though I am hung over. Definitely a sign of dehydration. So I am sipping on fluids constantly. Today I got to add a bit more to my food choices. I had 125ml of yogurt this morning and it took me over an hour to eat it. Tonight I am sipping on a chocolate protein drink made with milk. It tastes great! I have no real desire to eat and I have to force myself to drink. It takes me at least two hours to get through 8oz of liquid. If I take a sip that is too big I get a horrible pain in my sternum. And if there is already too much liquid in my stomach, I get that same pain. It is so uncomfortable!

My husband has been so wonderful. I cannot even bend over to tie my own shoes. He has been getting me everything I need. I just have to put up with shows on the tv about snipers and gator killers! ahahahha

I am so glad that I brought my computer with me. All I do during the day is surf the net or sit and read books. Life is not that exciting, but it is relaxing. The boys are having a fabulous time visiting my family and will only talk to us on the phone for about 30 seconds. So we know they are having fun!

I go back to the clinic on Monday for a check up and weigh in and then we start heading home next Wednesday.

Now for the photos! Yes, I asked the surgeon to take photos during the surgery. I got about 12 photos of my guts and it is really neat!

My stomach after the surgery. There are six incision sites covered with bandages.

I was allowed to take the bandages off this morning. My tummy is wicked itchy!

The part of my stomach that was taken off! I was thinking it would be a lot bigger.

Well hello there stomach! Nice to meet you!

Cutting the stomach off.

Thank you everyone for the heaps of messages and well wishes that have arrived via email or facebook. I definitely feel loved!

Tomorrow!

2011-10-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

Matt and I have been down in Edmunds, Washington for the last few days. It is about 20 minutes outside of Seattle and at 40 000 people it is considered a small town. Today we actually found someone who knew where the Yukon was and had even canoed the Yukon River in his younger days! Most folks have no clue where we live, but are shocked when we say there is snow there already. We are walking around in t-shirts when everyone else is wearing winter jackets and mittens! Of course, we are getting odd looks.

Again, the reason we are down here is so I can undergo weight loss surgery. Tomorrow morning at 8am I will be at the clinic and I should be back at the hotel by noon. I have gone through all of my pre-op appointments and I think I am ready to go. My stomach is full of butterflies, so good thing it is getting cut out tomorrow! :)

This is going to be life changing for me. I honestly don't think anyone who isn't obese can understand what it is like and how it will change my life. I was 100lbs when I was 9 and 200lbs by the time I was 15 and 300lbs by my late twenties. Go ahead, strap 100lbs onto your body and try carrying it around for a day and see how you do. It is exhausting, but it is all that I know. I do not know what it is like to be an age appropriate weight. I need to lose nearly 160lbs to get to a proper body weight.

I am not doing this as an easy way out. It definitely isn't, for anyone who has that thought in the back of their mind. This is going to be hard work. I have failed at dieting, and it is not because I am lazy or lack motivation. It is because I have an addiction and having this surgery is going to give me a tool to help me manage my eating in the future. This is a great website that is very informative on all forms of weight loss surgery if any of you readers want to educate yourself more on the matter.

The support I have received from friends has been phenomenal. I don't think many of our family members are on board yet, but hopefully as I go through this process they will come around.

I have been reading a couple of books about life after weight loss surgery. It is going to be hard for sure. It says that people who have been obese their entire lives go through a lot of identity issues once they have lost a lot of weight. Also anxiety, depression, loneliness rear their ugly heads once you can no longer turn to food for comfort or to hide from life. I will be outside of my comfort zone and I just hope I don't turn into a complete wreck!! I have done a lot of work to ensure I have the help needed to get me through after my surgery.

Tomorrow is the start of a new life for me. Not that I don't love my life right now, but it will be a life that is much healthier.

Riding a ferry just for shits and giggles! We went across the bay and right back again.

Boat, boats and more boats! Our hotel is just a block away from the water front and we have been enjoying walks along the pier.

Thank you Matt for being such an strong support for me to lean on!

Flowers left in my room from the Faro Girls! Thank you Michelle, Heather, Brittany, Sarah, Erica, Nicole, Tina and Lorraine!

More flowers for me! These are from a dear friend that I met while living in Kugluktuk who now lives in the Vancouver Area. Thank you Tarama, Jason, Garrett and Tanner!

Getting a little stressed!

2011-10-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

I have so much to do, plan and pack in the next four days and it just sort of hit me tonight.

The kids will be going to my parents house for a week and a half, so I have to get them ready. This time of year means a lot of extra gear gets packed (snow gear along with fall gear). I need to pack Matt and I for two weeks of travel. The house needs to be cleaned so there is no mess to arrive home to. House sitters need to be arranged, aquarium needs to be cleaned, laundry needs to be done.... oh the list is long.

Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be extra busy because I am watching a toddler those days. And Thursday I will watching the news like an addict. Air Canada flight attendants are threatening to strike and that would screw us over royally. I am all for the government putting them back to work asap. Sorry flight attendants, but I need to travel!

Saturday morning we will get up early and drive to Whitehorse. Our flight isn't until early afternoon, so we do not have go in a day early.

Chaos is about to start and I am not feeling ready for it!

Two weeks to go

2011-10-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

Only two weeks now to go until I have my weight loss surgery. If I think about it too long I feel like I am going to yak from the nerves! Good thing I have two rambunctious boys to keep me distracted (and who gave them the bright idea that the floor lamp would make a good fireman pole??).

I am on the fifth day of my pre-surgery diet plan and it is going very well. I am down 8lbs as of this morning, however in the evenings I have been having a big spoonful of peanut butter. I know, there are worse things that I could be shoving down my gob, but I still shouldn't be doing it at all. The whining of an emotional eater.... I know, suck it up princess and get with the program.

I still find it hard to explain to people why I am doing this. While my family and friends are supportive I know some of them are still thinking (and saying) why not just diet and just get over it. I don't have a good answer. Do you really think telling an alcoholic to just stop drinking will work? No, probably not. Or a drug addict to just walk away from that life? Nope. Addicts of any sort need help and many some kind of intervention. I see this surgery as a self-imposed intervention in my life.

There are a number of drugs available for alcoholics to help them not feel pleasure from their drinking, or reduce their cravings. There isn't really anything like that for people who are addicted to food. Addicts turn to their drug of choice in order to avoid something. For me it was to avoid negative feelings, bullying, and a number of other situations in my youth. It has been going on so long that it has now become a habit or addiction. This surgery is going to change my outlook on food. For a long time after surgery I will no longer be able to turn to food for comfort or to hide from my emotions. After a hard day of children destroying my house, sitting down with a bit of pureed moose meat just won't do it like a bowl of ice cream would. It will break my cycle of addiction by decreasing my dependence on food. I will be forced to face my emotions and deal with them (hopefully in a positive manner and not by beating anyone with a stick).

I am going to detox.

I don't think I will be much fun to be around.

Run if you see me carrying a stick.

Now something positive! Thank you to all of the Faroites that read this blog. I have been getting a lot of support around town. In passing I will get a "Oh I just read the blog. Good luck!" or a "I have been following your struggles and we are rooting for you." How is it we managed to pick such a fabulous community to call home? I appreciate all of the kindness that Faroites are so willing to offer!

Cutting Up Moose: Playdough Version

2011-10-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Mom: Whatcha up to tonight, Hunter?
Hunter: I am cutting up my moose!
Mom: Great job buddy!
Hunter: I shot it myself.

Nothing like bagging that elusive playdough moose!

The Playdough Hunter

Help Support Young Women in the Yukon!

2011-10-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Please take a few minutes out of your day for the next couple of weeks and cast a vote in support of our local girls group, Girls North. They are competing in the Aviva Community Fund contest. Here is the link where you can read about them and what they hope to do with the funds from Aviva if they win.

Click here to vote! You can give them up to 15 votes during the first round, but you can only vote for them once each day. So please visit the site each day and cast your vote! Please help them get to the next round of voting!

Here is more information about Girls North and the contest:

This is such an amazing group and they would really use your support! Registration is very easy.
Girls Night Out started in Faro Yukon in 2005. We are a girl directed support group for girls aged 11-18 in our community. We meet weekly for workshops, discussion, crafting and networking with other women and groups. In our community of 400, we have 28 past and present members of GNO which represents 100% of girls in Faro during the past 6 years.
Northern girls are different . We come from some of the most isolated places on our planet. Our communities are often riddled with substance abuse, sexual assault, suicide and broken families. Girls from Northern communities in Canada are especially vulnerable to relationship abuse, teenage pregnancy, poor self esteem and often feel isolated and alone in their communities. We want to change this.
We have a dream to expand our program and create girl support groups in every Yukon community. We are expanding the acronym GNO, calling our project GNORTH, or Girls North. Eventually we hope to spread throughout Canada's North.
The first phase of our project is to secure a building, a space where we can work to launch GNORTH. We have chosen a space that is close to our school and our recreation centre, that is accesible to the girls in our community. We need funds to secure the space for our use, and to complete renovations to create a space that suits our needs. We need to purchase paint, furniture, computers, and need to install a small kitchen. This will be GNORTH's headquarters for the next several years while we expand throughout the Yukon. Our local girls will be fully involved in the transformation of the space and will work as youth ambassadors in the GNORTH office. We hope to be completed renovations and have a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the space in the spring of 2012.
The second phase of our project is to create GNORTH support groups in all 12 Yukon communities. Our group will travel around to meet women leaders and role models, and to tell girls about GNORTH. We will hold rallys to introduce girls to the concept of girl only support groups. We will explore individual community dynamics and help to find appropriated spaces to hold GNORTH meetings. We will start a website so that we can generate members and create awareness through media.
We will require funds to assist with our travel expenses, for food and supplies for the rallies, for GNORTH jackets to help with our group visibility, and for small start up grants to get community groups going. Alot of this work will be done by commited community volunteers, and through in kind donations by local business. Our goal will be to have each group be self sustainable, participating in fundraising activities and pursuing local funding oppurtunities. We hope to have GNORTH groups established in each Yukon community by the spring of 2013.
The final phase of our project is to host a gathering/retreat/conference to bring all the women and girls of GNORTH together to network, share ideas and learn together how we can create impact not only in the North but across Canada. We will need funds for a facility rental, a facilitator, food and activity expenses. Our goal is to host this retreat during the spring of 2013. We hope to host a similar retreat every year to help our organization expand and grow stronger.
Please vote for our project, you will be contributing the lives of Northern girls, girls who will become strong, powerful Yukon women that will work to create positive change in Northern communities across Canada. Your vote will support our mission to help girls discover their talents and beauty and strength, to lead their communities forward towards healthier futures.

What Will Tomorrow Bring?

2011-09-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

The countdown is now on: 19 days until my weight loss surgery!

For the last couple of weeks I have been eating everything in sight. I have been doing the usual coping with the stress of this life changing event by eating. Plus it is as though I have been going through a mourning period with food. I have been wanting to eat foods that I will no longer be able to eat once I have my surgery.

Tomorrow though, everything changes. I have to start my pre-surgery diet plan tomorrow. The diet is two parts leading up to my surgery. The first part consists of 1600 calories a day (high protein, low carb, no caffeine, no sugar, no fruit, no alcohol) and then for the second part I go down to 1200 calories with the same restrictions.

I have joined an online weight loss surgery forum so I can learn from others who have had the surgery. I filled up my kindle with weight loss surgery reading and workbooks. Every day from here on out I will be keeping track of everything I eat and it will be reviewed by my nutrition counselor. The kitchen cupboards have been cleaned out of food that I would pick for binging. Small plates, spoons, protein powders and a mini blender are going to be my best friends in the kitchen. I have hopefully put everything in place to help ensure my success.

This is going to be one heck of an exciting month!

Newest Creations

2011-09-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

Check out my newest creations from the last few days of sewing. I have been trying to come up with ideas for items that are smaller and cheaper than my normal stuff. I have found that at craft shows people aren't quite as willing to part with $300, but they will happily hand over $20 for a little thing.

This November I will be taking part in the Spruce Bog Craft Fair in Whitehorse. I am busy getting ready for it now!

Seal Fur Wrist Band

Oodles of Seal Fur Wrist Bands!

Zipper Pull Mini Mittens!

Muskrat Fur Boot Cuff! This is my first one, and hopefully by Wednesday I have another pair done to match these shoes a bit better. And this are definitely not my shoes! Thank you Erica for being my foot model!

Cutting Up Moose

2011-09-25T20:21:00.001-07:00

And yet another fall tradition- cutting up a dead animal in my garage! I have been doing this since I was old enough to hand crank the meat through the meat grinder and I look forward to it every year!

Yep, me and a dead animal in the garage. Good times in the Went household!

Never too young to get in on the action:

And never too old to learn! Erica gave up her lunch break to help put meat through the "Moose Meater" as Hunter calls it:

After seeing this photo I was thinking of renaming Hunter as Dexter:

Don't worry, their hands were sorta clean!

Kindergarten!

2011-09-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Faro offers kindergarten for kids aged 4 and 5 and this is Hunter's first year! He started a week late due to our hunting trip, but we figure that is part of a well rounded education.

He was super excited for the first day, as was his little brother! We had a hard time convincing Cavan that he was not going to school as well. My mom had sent the boys up matching backpacks and they also have matching jackets. They looked so adorable!

Hunter has shed no tears and can barely manage a good-bye when I drop him off. Cavan keeps trying to sneak into class and tells me a number of times that he will be starting school soon. Cavan even remembers the teachers name (Miss Evans) while Hunter just calls her "Teacher".

And everyone asks if I cried when dropping him off for the first day.... NOPE! I did a little happy dance. I love my kid, but wow having three hours a day without him is sure a great little break!!

Posing for first day of school photos:

And they're off! Notice who is in the lead?

Faro school:

And all ready for his first day:

And it only took four days for our first meeting with the teacher and principal! Hunter hit another kid (he was upset over having to put away toys) and all I could think was how many more times am I going to get a call like this over the next 14 years! It was all fine with everyone involved and the other parents and us had a good laugh over it all.

I love mail!

2011-09-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

My mail has been pretty fantastic lately. There was a birthday card from high school friend, a thoughtful card from a friend who has moved away and then a parcel from the always entertaining, Tina.

A musical card (which Cavan has claimed as his and I am pretty sure I am going to toss it out the window after another couple of hours), a signed copy of a Robert Munch book (he even wrote, "To Hunter and Cavan" inside!!) and then a freaking awesome book called, "It's a Book" that any computer junkie should have. I laughed so hard when I read it. The boys loved the Munch book and we have already read it a couple times this morning.

Today I am yet again thankful for the friends I have in my life! Thank you for making my mail box light up.

Embarassing Moment #3027

2011-09-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

I have a long list of embarrassing moments. Looooooooong. Oh so long.

Today I added another entry on to that list, but thankfully I was the only person around to witness it. I debated on keeping the event to myself, but really it is too funny (and gross) not to share.

I had just finished a number two in toilet (surprisingly there were no kids in the bathroom at the time- that never happens!) when I realized there was no toilet paper. So I did a quick stand and reach to the shelf above the toilet to grab another role. While reaching for the role I bumped a bottle of shampoo. Yes... I think you know where this is going now.

The shampoo fell right into the toilet full of poo. Poo water exploded all over the toilet, the wall and me. And there is no flushing away a bottle of shampoo. So I had to reach in and rescue the bottle and wash it off. Yuck!

I am pretty sure that tops the list of disgusting embarrassing moments for me!

And then there was a moose

2011-09-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

So we spent five days and four nights in the backcountry and only saw a cow and calf moose. The very next day after we came out, Matt and Luc quadded into a small lake by Luc's house early in the morning. By 11am they had got a moose! Luc shot it and this is his first moose! They were close enough to Luc's house that they drove back to get the quad trailer as well as Delphine and the kids to help skin and quarter it.

Our freezer now has half a moose in it. Thank you Luc for shooting such a tasty moose!

The successful hunters:

The Lefebvre Family and their first moose:

Our Back Country Adventure

2011-09-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last week we spent five days and four nights on a hunting trip in the back country behind Faro. The trip was amazing! The boys loved all of the quadding and adventure time.

We did come home one day early. After a night and day of rain (snow up higher), it just got very cold to have the boys on the backs of the quads. The next day was gorgeous, so we came back while it was nice.

For all the time out there, we only saw a cow and calf moose. So no dead critters came home with us. We were out there with fantastic friends who made the trip so memorable! I would do it again next year for sure; perhaps up the North Canol road next time!

We found the perfect camping spot- it is a spot that Hunter use all of the time. It even had an open air outhouse! We were right by a creek and Cavan spent all his time getting wet. Thank goodness I brought three pairs of boots for him. Three of the nights we spent in our own tent, but the rain got our gear wet on the third night. On the fourth night we stayed in our friends big canvas tent to keep warm and dry. The nights were very cold, but we stayed toast warm in our sleeping bags.

Each day we would all head out to look for moose. The kids snacked, looked for moose, explored and napped. I cannot believe how the boys would nap! They would sleep on the quads so easily. Cavan even slept through me getting stuck in a mud hole and having to be winched out. Good northern kids!

The evening were spent drying out clothes, eating our freeze dried meals, reading books in the tents and then going to sleep very early! Surprisingly both kids slept well in the tent as did we.

Here is a slide show of pictures we took from the trip followed by some videos. Definitely a memorable five days!

"Back Country Adventure"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

The Blog That Keeps On Giving

2011-09-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

I am about 10 posts behind on events going on in our lives right now (all good events!), but I just had to get this up tonight.

My blog is just the gift that keeps on giving. I write about our lives and somehow through that, I meet (online and sometimes in person) the most amazing people. I have formed close relationships and friendships with people I have never met in person. Many of these people now connect with me through email and facebook and I have come to depend on their friendship and support in so many ways.

Tonight I received a gift from a one of those readers- a beautiful woman with a lovely husband and two little boys the same ages as mine. We have never met in person as she lives on the far side of Nunavut. But tonight she felt compelled to send me a gift as encouragement and support for my upcoming weight loss surgery. I am not going to share what the gift was, but I will let you know that it made my cry and left me completely overwhelmed by the generosity and love that a friend, I have never met in person, has for me.

How did I become so lucky in life to have friends like this?

In Iqaluit- you are so generous and kind. Thank you for the friendship we share. I truly hope I can be as supportive of you as you are of me. I am blessed to have you in my life.

Adventure Time!

2011-09-05T18:38:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! My family and another couple with two young kids are heading out into the bush for a week. Chaos!!

Hopefully in a week I am posting pictures of the moose and caribou that we shot and perhaps a wolf as well. I would love to fill my freezer and my sewing room with goodies from this trip.

The boys are so excited, however they have been sick the last couple of days with a fever that will not go away. We have our fingers crossed that by morning they are feeling 100% and off we will go. Tylenol and Advil are our best friends right now.

I have been packing for a couple of weeks and the lists have been crossed off item by item. I only have about 6 things left to do or round up tonight after the kids go to sleep. Most everything is already loaded into the quad trailer or quads. Now I am frantically trying to think of what we are forgetting. There has been snow back in the area we are heading, so we have packed winter gear along with snow gear. And with my boys and their love for puddles, I have packed two pairs of rubber boots plus a pair of winter boots for each kid.

Both batteries for the camera have been charged and I have two 32gig cards ready to be filled. I am so excited to get going tomorrow; I doubt I will sleep much tonight!

And more good news!

The contractor has set up the scaffolding around the house to start painting. I should come home to a lovely red house with white trim if all goes well.

Then this afternoon I sold a pair of mittens from my Etsy site. I am thinking of buying some more sheared beaver pelts with that cash.

AND! My parents have graciously provided almost off the travel that I will need to have my surgery done. They are flying us to Edmonton where they will take the boys off our hands for nearly two weeks. Matt and I will then continue on to Seattle where I will have my surgery. Then we will return to Edmonton to pick the boys up again and then back to Whitehorse. I would like to thank everyone who offered their help! All of the support has been amazing. Thanks mom and dad for the travel and kid care. That was really unexpected and we are very thankful.

Weight Loss Surgery

2011-09-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

If you know me in person or have been reading this blog for any length of time, you will know all of my struggles with weight loss. I have been obese my entire life and it has not been an easy road.

Losing weight is tough. It is especially tough when you have a diagnosed eating disorder. I am a binge eater/compulsive over-eater. Last year I lost 50lbs and have already gained back 40 of it. It is heartbreaking. Right now I am very lucky in that I have no health issues other than sore joints. I do not suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure or other weight related illnesses. However, I know that I am right on the cusp of becoming very ill. I will be 32 in just a few weeks and I have two little boys that need their mother to be around for a long time.

Over the last year I have been researching weight loss surgery options and for the last couple of months I have jumping through all of the hoops to be approved for surgery. On October 19th, I will be heading to Washington State to have weight loss surgery. A huge decision, and one that I am finally feeling good about.

For a number of months I just felt like such a loser for turning to medical intervention to help me. But after talking with the surgeon, a number of other people who have had the surgery themselves, and my close friends I finally feel good about my decision. I need help to lose the weight and keep it off and this is a good option for me.

I have opted to do it through a private clinic. Wait lists in Canada can be very long for having it done in the public system and you do not have a lot of say in timing or type of surgery. There is only one clinic in Canada that does the type of surgery that I want and it is all the way out in Montreal. So for ease of travel, I found the best surgical centre in Washington that will do the surgery for me. Yes, private means we are paying out of pocket. Curious? It will cost me just over $16k for the surgery plus travel, accommodation, etc. My total cost will be around $20k (so if anyone wins the lottery and wishes to send money my way, I would not turn it down!).

I spent a lot of time feeling bad about spending our money on this surgery. I worked hard to make sure my hobby money is self-generating so I wouldn't take away from our family money and then here I go spending $20k on myself. However, spending this money is about my health and me being around for a long time.

So about the surgery....

I will be having Gastric Sleeve Surgery. The surgeon will actually be cutting off most of my stomach and tossing it in the garbage! I will be left with a stomach that is shaped like a banana and it will only hold about 8oz. This type of surgery has a very low rate of complications, there is no re-routing of the intestines and no foreign items left on my stomach.

After surgery my life will be very different. I will be on liquid/puree diets for a number of weeks before I start re-introducing food. When I do start back on food it will only be a few bites at a time, lots of chewing, and there will be a lot of foods I can no longer eat. I know I am going to go through an extreme withdrawal and a long adjustment period.

Am I scared? Yep, scared shitless. Nervous, anxious and excited too.

Am I worried about gaining it all back? Of course I am. Anyone who has lost weight in any way has that fear. What will I be doing this time around to make sure the weight stays off? Well the clinic that is doing my surgery offers two years of aftercare with nutritionists, the surgeon and personal trainers. That can be extended too. I am also going to be seeing the mental health worker that comes to Faro once a month. We will be working on dealing with my emotional eating issues. I am hoping that this support along with being able to get off my excess weight will allow me to finally have long term success.

What can I expect in terms of weight loss? On a phone appointment with the surgeon, he said I can easily lose 100lbs in the first 9 months. That would have me down around 200lbs. I haven't been 200lbs since I was 15 years old. I have no clue what it will be like. No clue at all.

Right now we are just trying to coordinate travel and child care for my time away. It is proving to be very difficult! So if there is anyone who wants to come to Faro for two weeks to stay with our boys (completely paid for) or would like to come and babysit me in Washington (completely paid for), let me know.

I will of course be blogging about all of my experiences. The support I have received in the past because of what I write on this blog has been phenomenal. I hope you will all support me through this journey!

Playground

2011-08-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Our house has the perfect location. There are no houses behind us, we have a view of mountains, and there is a playground right behind our place! Now that playground is a bit old and rundown, but we still enjoy it.

The rec director for Faro put in a lot of work this last year to find funding to update the playground. She was awarded grants of over $60k to have a new park built!! This fall, a lot of the playground will be taken down and over next summer all new equipment will be put in place. We are pretty excited to see what is in store for the new playground!

Faro is changing. No longer is it just a retirement town. Vibrant, young families are moving here and changing the whole feel of Faro. We are so glad this is the community we have chosen to put down our roots.

Town equipment removing the fence around the playground:

Our boys and their buddy Jack watching all of the action:

Tips for a Successful Moose Spotting Puddle Walk

2011-08-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

Tip #1: Bring "Noculars" to help spot moose.
Two pairs are always better than one.

Tip #2: Always be on the lookout.
Urban moose could be anywhere.

Tip #3: Hit maximum speed to ensure "biggest puddle spwash evar!"
And to make sure you boots are completely filled with water.

Tip #4: Moose like to hang out by puddles.
Best drinking water in the Yukon.

Tip #5: Bring your friends along to help spot moose.
Always nice to see other kids get as dirty as your own.

Tip #6: The louder you splash through the puddles the better your chances a moose will come to see what the commotion is all about.
Or the neighbours look out their windows wondering what those crazy Went kids are up to now.

Tip #7: Moose like to fly.
Or so I am told.

Tip #8: Always bring a hot chick along.
An older chick to boot- Hunter is in love!

Tip #9: Make sure you leave the biggest possible mess for your mama to clean up.
This is why I have a rain barrel at the door, so my washing machine doesn't have to deal with all that dirt.

Now this is going to be an ADVENTURE!

2011-08-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

We are in the middle of planning out a fantastic adventure for September. I am so excited for it!

For a week this September, we are packing up the quads, trailer, kids, hunting and camping gear and heading way the heck back into the mountains for a hunting trip. We are going with friends of ours who also have two young children. They are taking their argo and trailer.

It is taking a lot of planning of what to bring. We were short a few items (extra sleeping bag and thermarest) but thankfully we have lots of good friends to borrow from.

We plan on heading quite a ways back and setting up our base camp. Then we will head out hunting from that point. With four adults, we can trade off who is going hunting and who is staying in camp with the kids. I know that I would love to go out with Matt and no kids!! And we will take the kids out on hunts too. They have been practicing their moose hunting skills all year and are raring to go! Seriously- they play moose hunt all the time. They try calling in moose, shooting them with wooden spoons or whatever else they have in hand, and have even tried cutting up our rocking moose with a butter knife. My kids are awesome.

We had the tent set up in the living room this weekend just to help with planning for sleeping gear. The boys were so excited and of course wanted us to leave it up!

This is going to be one heck of adventure and I cannot wait for the next three weeks to pass so we can head out. Now hopefully the monsoon season is over by then!!

My Beautiful Backyard

2011-08-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

Matt has been working in between the rain storms to finish up the planter boxes in the top level of the back yard. He is finally done! Now we just need to fill them up with dirt and they will be all ready to grow flowers and delicious veggies next spring.

Once the deck is on the back of the house, we will be bringing that wall in closer and adding a couple more boxes (left hand side of the first photo below). Thank you Matt for making our back yard look so great!

I have been in charge of getting the grass to grow, and I think I have done a fabulous job! A few years of babying it and it should be thick and lovely.

Next year we will be doing the same thing to the second level of the backyard. Hunting season is here and our priorities shift from yard work to filling our freezer. The yard projects are never ending! Tomorrow I will take photos of the progress in the front yard.

The gap on the right is where the slide goes down. Matt is also finishing up work on a tire climb right beside it.

And a new photo of the boys for my mom:
**if you want your kids to smile for a photo, have them yell pee instead of cheese! Works like a charm!

Five Minutes Peace

2011-08-14T19:33:00.001-07:00

As a stay at home parent, most days I dream of five minutes of peace and quiet. I am sure other parents can relate!

Yesterday I was picking out the books for story time before bed when I came across a gem of a book. I have no clue where it came from. We pick up books at garage sales and friends are always giving us boxes of books. Books can sit on the shelves for quite some time before we get a chance to read them. I am thinking we have over 400 books for the kids in the house now. They are voracious little readers!!

I think every parent needs to order this book. The mother is hoping for five minutes peace while her three kids vie for her time. I loved it!

And if you are looking for an even better laugh, although you probably shouldn't read this one aloud to the kids, check this out! Over better yet, have Samuel L. Jackson read it to you before bed tonight.

Great Northern Arts Festival

2011-08-10T14:09:00.001-07:00

We are finally home from our three weeks of chaotic travel! I will resume the blog posting with a post about the Great Northern Arts Festival. It was definitely a highlight of my summer!

I spent a week in Inuvik as an artist at the festival. The entire trip was paid for thanks to the Touring Arts Fund through the Yukon Government. What a treat! Each day meals were made for me, I spent the nights in the college dorm, and I got to spend my time doing what I love- sewing and visiting with people.

There were a number of other ladies from across the north that I got to learn new sewing tricks from. I spent a lot of time with the elders and they all seemed to get a real kick out of the fact that I sew with leather and fur yet I am as white as can be! It was good to sit around laughing and sewing with them.

Plus I had a lovely couple from Inuvik who read this blog stop in to say hi!

I sold a number of items and hosted two workshops. I am really happy with how much money I was able to make in just one week. Too bad all weeks aren't like that! I was impressed with the organization of the festival, the army of volunteers there were always there to help when needed, and the coordinator, artist liaison, and curator of the festival. All wonderful people that made the festival a huge success in my eyes!

Now I love my husband and children, but I sure did need that week away for myself. I didn't really even miss them! I did call the boys each day, but all I got over the phone was "Hi Mom. I miss you. Here's Grandma." So I think the feeling was mutual!

I will definitely consider applying for the festival again next year.

A cute little tyke wearing one of my headbands:

My little sewing station! It was right in the middle of the gallery where all of the work was for sale. I had a blast talking to all of the visitors to the gallery. People could pull up and chair and chat with me while I was sewing.

Part of the gallery (normally a curling rink). My stuff was spread out all throughout the gallery.

This display had some of my mittens, hats and handbags on it:

I completed this hat while I was up there and it sold the same day! Here is the happy owner wearing it:

The three participants in one of my workshops. I taught them how to make a pair of leather and fur baby booties:

The carvers in attendance were pretty darn amazing! Here are two mini mukluks that had been carved and were to be turned into earrings. I was impressed with the bigger of the two and then he brought out the wee one and I was blown away!

Here I am with two ladies from Canadian North Airline- one of the big corporate sponsors of the festival. They signed up to take my bootie making class!

My fur headband display:

The hat on the left sold!

Here I am with my finished parka cover! I was lucky enough to be able to take a workshop with an elder to make it. Nothing like sewing with an elder who speaks very little English! My stomach was sore from laughing so much that afternoon!

There were definitely parts that I did not enjoy from the week. The flights! Wow, those were the bumpiest flights I have ever been on. I went from Whitehorse to Dawson City to Old Crow to Inuvik. One the way back we only stopped in Dawson City before getting to Whitehorse. In Dawson City on the way up we had to turn around just before we took off on the runway since there were some bells and lights going off in the cockpit. I really did not want to get back on the plane later even when they said everything was fine! ahahha I nearly yakked on each flight.

I felt quite out of place up there too. I wasn't an artsy person (I just have no clue how to relate to that crowd), and I wasn't a partier (everyone kept asking me to come to the bar with them at night). I did not know a single person up there. But I am friendly and chatty and made some great connections with people. It also gave me time to reflect on where I want my hobby to go and life in general!

I was also a bit disappointed that I didn't get to see more of Inuvik. It was hot most of the days (+25) and I really don't do well walking around in the heat. But I did have a lot of time to sew!

Of course the positive experience far outweighs the negative. I am just kicking myself for not taking more photos!

I am famous!

2011-07-27T19:11:00.000-07:00

Check out the fantastic photo of me at the Great Northern Arts Festival on the CBC website!

Heading out camping now for the long weekend here in BC and then some more visiting next week. Next Thursday we will start the trek back up to Faro.

Have a fun and safe weekend everyone!

The Festival So Far

2011-07-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

I have been having a lovely time up here in Inuvik! So far I have given one bootie making workshop and I will be teaching another on Saturday night. There were two workshops that I had the opportunity to participate in as well- feather earring making and sewing with an elder to make myself a parka cover. The elder that I got to sew with was so much fun and definitely a master seamstress. It was a real treat to be able to spend that much time with her.

There were a few professional development classes that I was looking forward to taking. One has been postponed until tomorrow and the other.... well sometimes things in the north just don't come together. The person who was supposed to present didn't bother to show up. Ah well! More sewing time for me.

This festival is a real treat. I have nothing to do but sew and visit! I don't have to cook or clean and there is no one hanging off of my clothing yelling MOM! MUM! MUMMY! A perfect vacation for a crafter and a mother in dire need of a rest.

I have sold a number of items so far and have received a lot of compliments on my work. I have learned a few new tricks and am coming home with sewing ideas out the wazoo. My only complaint is that the time is passing much too quickly.

The boys don't even seem to miss me and so far I am not falling apart without them. Each time I call to talk to them I get, "Hi Mom. Me miss you. Here is Grandma." So yeah, they are fine and being spoiled rotten.

And now... back to sewing!

On My Way to the Great Northern Arts Festival!

2011-07-14T07:30:00.001-07:00

It is all coming together!! On Sunday I will be flying to Inuvik to be a participant, for the first time, in the Great Northern Arts Festival. I am so excited I can barely sleep!

My three rubbermaids of stuff for sale has already been shipped north. This evening we start the drive down to Liard Hotsprings. My mom is meeting us there so the boys can have a week with Grandma and Poppa! Then we drive back up to Whitehorse to put me on the plane for Sunday morning and Matt comes back to Faro to work for a week.

I will be in Inuvik for a week. After that, I fly down to Grande Prairie. Matt just has to work in Faro for a week and then he is driving down south as well. We have two weeks of visiting and camping planned with my family during that time.

If you happen to be at the festival, please introduce yourself!

Have a great few weeks everyone. Enjoy the summer!

A number of items will be for sale at the festival including this seal fur and leather handbag!

Furlastics!

You will also find my newest creations- headbands embellished with fur and other nifty items:

Northern glam!

Pretty in pink:

And of course all of my regular items will be for sale as well- hats, mittens and mukluks!

Remembering Constable Potvin

2011-07-13T09:30:00.001-07:00

One year ago today, Constable Michael Potvin tragically drown in the Stewart River. He left behind his lovely wife Allison who was expecting their first child. Michael was just 26.

Allison is back in the Yukon this month. Today her and her young son, Jack, are in Mayo for a special memorial service for Michael.

We wish we could be there today with you, Allison. In the short time that we had to get to know Mike we knew he was a great man. We hope today is full of beautiful tributes to him.

More Back Yard Progress

2011-07-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

There is never a lack of work to do around our place this year. The backyard is looking fantastic and our hard work is definitely showing.

My beautiful grass! Just a couple of bags of seed and a bit of fertilizer:

It is still a bit patchy, but once I get back from vacation I will add more seed:

Matt has been busy every evening making the planter boxes to go around each level. They will serve dual purpose- a place for me to put lovely flowers and perhaps some veggies and to also keep the kids from falling over the edge! They are looking amazing:

First planter box has been placed! There are actually two out there now, one more needs to be moved back and by tonight there should be another three built.

Bug Adventure Park

2011-07-08T06:48:00.001-07:00

My mother sent Hunter a Fisher Price Lil Adventures Bug Park for his birthday. Bugs are captured and dropped into the park, complete with a slide, ferris wheel, teeter-totter and swing. On the outside of the container is a wheel that can be turned to make the ferris wheel, teeter-totter and swing move. So basically it is a bug torture chamber and we love it!

Yesterday we captured four spiders, two ants and a beetle. We had a blast trying to capture them and recovered from an escape attempt (Hunter dropped the container and an ant made a run for it). The boys spent a lot of time yelling at the bugs to go on the moving parts. The bugs had very little interest in taking in the fun aspects of the adventure park and preferred to just run in circles hoping for escape.

All bugs were let free in the end, however the boys did try to convince me that they wanted the bugs as pets. I didn't fall for it.

Inspecting the collection:

GET ON THE TEETER-TOTTER, ANT! IT WILL BE FUN!

Brothers enjoying the bug torture together:

Now if only they would get along this well the rest of the day:

Alaska and More

2011-07-06T14:19:00.001-07:00

Life has been busy! BUSY!

With our truck accident in early June, everything had been put off for a month. It also didn't help that Matt had to spend two weeks working in Ross River. We finally had a weekend off and our new truck was here so we took off to do some "sploring" as the boys would say. Over 2000km of sploring in just a few days!

Here is a day by day of the chaos:

Wednesday: The boys and I caught a ride to town with a friend from Ross River and her two kids. I had a dental appointment that was supposed to be for a crown and instead was a root canal. Joy. We did the Copper Belt Railway (need to find a different camera cord and I will get those photos up) and supper out with our friends. We stayed at a hotel in WH.

Thursday: Spend the morning with my friend from Ross and her two kids, walking around downtown WH since her vehicle had to go in for repairs. Matt got to town about 1pm, but our truck had to be outfitted with camper bars so we could load the camper. After a number of delays in picking up the camper and finding a place to camp for the night we finally get some sleep at an RV park in WH.

Friday: Drive to Haines, AK! We hit Haines Junction right as the Canada Day Parade started. We had our flags ready and the boys were pelted with candy. Stopped at Million Dollar Falls and loved the trails and playground there. Enjoyed driving through the mountains, but did not like the crappy weather through that part. Had wicked fish and chips, explored a bit of the town and found an unbelievable playground!

Saturday: Woke up to rain. Miserable cold wet rain. Not much to do with two busy boys in crappy weather, so we decide to drive to Skagway, Alaska to take the boys on the train. Stopped in WH to do a bit of shopping and got into Skagway about 8pm and went right to sleep! Or at least we tried too. There were a bunch of partiers from Whitehorse in the camp spot across from ours and they were up until 3am drinking, yelling, etc. I thought about slicing their tires the next morning, but Matt held me back.

Sunday: Took the boys on the early train and had a blast! Well other than a pissy American who sat across from us and wasn't too impressed at the exuberance our boys had about the train. However, the tour guides and other train staff thought our boys were awesome! Then we drove back to WH, got groceries and headed for home.... stopping every 20 minutes because Cavan insisted on peeing. It took forever to get home!!

It was a great few days. Just busy and exhausting. And I really realized that our family has no clue what to do with itself when we are in town- any town. We have so much more fun when we are out in the bush. We don't like to shop, don't really like walking around towns and get bored easily unless there is a playground nearby. Thank goodness for the playgrounds!

Hunter and I goofing off before the parade started:

Yahhh Canada!

Gotta love the Mounties all dressed up!

Inspecting Million Dollar Falls:

Check out that impressive ride:

A family photo in the wee-bit of sun that we saw in Haines, Alaska:

The most outstanding playground I have ever seen!
And there is Cavan levitating again:

Where's my fish and chips!
I love his beaver tattoo:

Hitting up the park in Whitehorse inbetween rain showers:

Nothing makes boys happier than a ride on the train!

Being goofy again:

Cavan fell asleep while looking out the window.
I am pretty sure this is the cutest picture I have of him to-date:

Only a month late

2011-06-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

We are finally heading out for a camping trip this weekend- only a month late! The truck accident wasted an entire month, but we are now getting back on track.

Matt picked up the new truck last Friday and boy is she gorgeous!! I have to be careful driving this one because as my sister-in-law put it, "Your truck now has hips!" Our new truck is a dualie and it is definitely going take some time to get used to.

The boys and I are hitching a ride to Whitehorse today with a friend from Ross River. I have a dentist appointment this afternoon. Matt is coming in tomorrow and the truck will have camper bars installed on it. Then we will pick up the camper that has been repaired from the accident (just a broken mirror and huge mess). We had to get swing out jacks installed on the camper so we can load it on the new truck.

Once we are all set up, we are heading out to Haines, Alaska for the weekend. We are excited to do some exploring!

Happy Canada Day to everyone, especially the newly minted Canadian- Megan! Hope everyone has a fantastic and safe weekend.

Happy 4th Birthday, Hunter

2011-06-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

On the weekend we celebrated Hunter's 4th birthday. We had all of his friends and their families out to FishEye Lake for the occasion. There were no organized games, no loot bags, and only a few presents (I had requested none, but of course some folks are just that lovely and had to bring something for the birthday boy). It was family fun- hot dogs on the fire, playing in the water and on the play equipment, and just enjoying the beautiful weather and the company of good friends.

Happy 4th Birthday Hunter!

Four years ago....

Blowing out the candles on his Dinosaur/Thomas Train cake:

Lord of the Flies: Yukon Chapter

2011-06-23T09:20:00.001-07:00

Cavan is two years and two months old. He is fearless. Reckless. Wild. A perfect kid for the north.

We went out to a lake that is just ten minutes outside of Faro where he decided that pantless playing in the water was on the agenda. It was cold out! I am pretty sure he has antifreeze instead of blood coursing through his veins.

The photos that my friend took of him made me think of one of my favorite novels, Lord of the Flies. He even has a spear in hand.

Look ma, no pants!

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

He went nearly waist deep and I think would have gone deeper if I didn't yell at him.
Fearless.

A Mouse

2011-06-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have a rather large mouse in my house:

Happy Blogoversary To Me!

2011-06-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

This month marks five years of blogging and I still going strong. I think it has become a slight addiction.

Plus having it printed out as a book each year makes up me being a neglectful mama and not doing up baby books for the kids.

This blog has led me to some of the most amazing friendships, random encounters, and tremendous support. Thank you readers, commenters and lurkers!!

The New Truck!

2011-06-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Matt came home from a week in Ross River yesterday afternoon and I met him at the door with news that I had found our new truck! Not only did I find it, but I was able to bullshit my way to a fantastic deal. Matt just had to give his approval and the deal was done.

We are purchasing a 2011 Dodge Ram SLT 4x4 3500 crew cab diesel pick up. We opted for the dually since we do put a camper on the back. It has heaps of doo-dads and doo-hickeys inside and outside. I was able to get a high rise canopy, spray in box liner, nerf bars, wiring for the camper and shipping to Whitehorse all added in for a price that blew the dealership in Whitehorse out of the water.

So thank you to Vince at Northland Dodge in Prince George. I was very impressed with the customer service!

The truck should be arriving in Whitehorse early next week. We are so happy that everything is working out fine after the accident.

The first question from Hunter (and Michael P. too) was if the balloons were included!

And I bet this truck doesn't smell of Eau du Barf!

My, what a lovely rear-end you have!

And now instead of taking up 4 parking spots in Whitehorse, I will be taking up six!!

Bad Luck Just Got Worse

2011-06-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

News finally came today regarding our truck accident and it sure wasn't the news we were hoping for. Our truck has been deemed a total loss and we are being paid out.

Frack me.

Being paid out will only cover about half the cost of getting a new truck.

And more bad luck- I need a crown done on a tooth and dental insurance will on cover about a third of the cost.

Alright. This is three things right? Truck accident, truck deemed to be a total loss and dental misery. Is my bad luck over now?

Wolf Hat

2011-06-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Great Northern Arts Festival is only a month away! I have been sewing up a storm to get ready for my first trip to the festival. If only there were more hours in the day kid free so I could sew more! The kids in Faro are done school this week, so I am hoping I can track down more sitters more often so I can continue getting ready.

Here is my newest creation- a wolf fur trapper's hat!

Kids say the darnedest things....

2011-06-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

It has been an entertaining few days thanks to the boys. They have come out with some interesting comments that I have to share.

---------------
Hunter: "Mommy I don't love you anymore."
Me: "Okay Hunter."
Hunter: "Mommy, I want you to leave our house."
Me: "Okay Hunter. And where should I go?"
Hunter: "You should leave here and go live in Carmacks!"

----------------
Matt to Cavan as he sees him walking around the house with a container of dental floss: "Whatcha got there, Cavan?"
Cavan: "It's for mummy's bum!"

-----------------
Hunter to Matt while watching Bambi for the first time: "Dad, did a hunter shoot the mommy deer?"
Matt: "Yes Hunter, the hunter shot the mommy deer."
Hunter: "Did they eat her because she was so delicious?"

---------------
And this last one is the best:

Mom, while holding the door closed from the outside of Hunter's bedroom while he is having a time-out for throwing a rather impressive tantrum before bedtime: "Hunter, get in your bed!"
Hunter, whilst wiggling the doorknob attempting to escape his time out: "Why won't this fucking door open!"
-------------------

I am thinking I might get a few calls from the school next year when Hunter starts attending!

Truck Accident Update

2011-06-12T19:31:00.001-07:00

It has been just over a week since our accident and we are still waiting to hear back from insurance. Matt has been in contact with the autobody shop in Whitehorse and they were submitting a repair quote for at least $14 000. Ouch! That is about half of what our truck is worth. We haven't heard what the quote is for the damage to the camper, but we are expecting that to be minimal.

I have my fingers crossed that our truck is not a write off. It is a 2005 with really low mileage and we would like to keep it around for a few more years.

Hopefully we know what will be happening by the end of the week. I am really looking forward to getting out of this itty bitty rental car!

Just another one of those great days

2011-06-10T19:28:00.001-07:00

Today was just another one of those great days.

Part of the 20lbs of moose meat I cut up to put in brine. Tomorrow I will be making jerky:

We went to the pool in the morning for an hour. Cavan has taken off just like his big brother. Today he told me, "No touch me, Mom. Me swimmin!" And he was, with the help of the water wings. He bobbed around the pool, kicking his legs and flailing his arms. I am pretty sure he gulped a couple of gallons of pool water as well.

Hunter's Kindergarten teacher dropped off a gift pack which included a pair of scissors! That entertained him for nearly an hour.

After the pool we had company over for lunch. Hunter and Cavan played with their friends while their mother and I attempted to keep our toes intact during the tricycle rally.

Little brother enjoyed scissor time too. Here is that tongue of concentration hard at work:

I had an extra kid for the afternoon while her mother was at work. We played inside. We played outside. We had a great time as usual.

Chicken breasts were in brine most of the day and then smoked for three hours to make an absolutely delicious supper:

Cavan napping with the essentials: Marno the Martin, dinky cars, blanket, and ketchup and cat hair stuck to his face.

While Cavan took a late afternoon nap, Hunter and I hung out in the sewing lair. Hunter was finally introduced to the bins of loose buttons and he was in love. He called himself a pirate and was digging through his buried treasure. He was entertained and I got to craft.

New broach pins! The top two are lynx and the bottom two are wolf:

And now we are just chilling together as a family. The boys are in pj's and cleaning up their toys, Matt is watching the hockey game and I am finally putting my feet up. Just another one of those great days.

Off To School

2011-06-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

This week Hunter attended his orientation day to Kindergarten. Our community runs Kindergarten for children aged 4 and 5 and it is just half days for four days a week. Hunter has been talking about school for the last year. Many of his friends are there this year and he has been incredibly envious of their experience.

I am excited for Hunter to start school. Hunter is an avid reader and very inquisitive. I am sure he will do just fine there!

It looks as though the class will be bursting at the seams with 10 children. Pretty impressive for Faro! And our lovely neighbour works with the kids in the classroom as an aide for the Child Development Centre. Hunter adores her and will love seeing her there everyday.

Cavan is going to have some much needed mommy time. Although he is begging to attend school as well. When I tell him he has to be bigger to go to school he stomps his feet and insists that he is a big boy! And while I love Hunter dearly, I am happy to have someone else listen to his incessant talking of trains. Good luck teachers!

Hunter in his smock doing a bit of finger painting:

Of course he will love Kindergarten; they have trains.

Hunter and one of his school-mates, Ryan-Rose.

Well that didn't go as planned....

2011-06-05T08:35:00.001-07:00

So our camping/lumber hauling/shopping trip to Whitehorse this weekend didn't go quite as planned. We were involved in a motor vehicle accident and are just thankful that no one was injured. The situation could have been a hell of a lot worse.

We were just 15 minutes from Carmacks on the Robert Campbell highway. Up until this point the highlight of the trip had been the smoke from nearby fires:
We came up a hill, around a curve in the road and WHAM we hit a truck. A smaller truck came out of a pull off at the Columbia Disaster site and pulled right in front of us trying to get into the other lane to head to Faro. We didn't have much time to react at all. Matt was able to swerve to our left (thank god there was no oncoming traffic). So instead of hitting the other truck on the side, we destroyed the front of his truck and the corner of ours. At the top of the hill we figure we were only doing about 80km and Matt was able to hit the breaks, so I think we were only doing maybe 50 or 60km when we hit him. That is still quite the impact. Both trucks were moved to the sides of the road after the crash.

You can see our skid marks in this shot. There is the truck we hit. When we hit him, he was right in our lane.

The camper looks alright, but a mirror broke and there is glass everywhere:

More skid marks:

I am pretty sure this truck will be a write-off. But you know, no airbags went off in this truck or ours.

Our damage:

There was another couple at the pull-off that saw the accident. You would think that being just 15 minutes from Carmacks they would offer to drive in and call for assistance. But nope. They asked if we were okay (they were from southern BC), and then when I told them we had friends in Carmacks that were RCMP and we needed to get a hold of them, they buggered right off!! I wonder what they were running from....

So we waited another 20 minutes for the next vehicle to arrive. The boys were fine this entire time. They had no clue what happened, they just wondered why we had stopped! They were upset that our truck was hurt. But they loved all of the action over the next couple of hours. A vehicle pulled up and it was a hunting film crew! They were making space for me and the boys to get a ride to Carmacks when some of the Yukon Wildland Firefighters arrived (oh they are nice to look at!). They had a radio system that worked and they called a dispatcher in Carmacks. We had them tell the dispatcher to get ahold of our friends in Carmacks. As luck would have it, the dispatcher office is right behind our friend's (also an RCMP officer) house and she just walked over and told him to come out for us. We got a great fly-by from the Wildland Fire helicopter too! The boys loved that.

In the mean time, the RCMP officer from Faro drove up on his way home. And I am pretty sure half of Faro and Ross River drove by after that. We had a lot of offers of assistance- thanks everyone! The RCMP member from Carmacks arrived soon after and we got everything dealt with. We emptied all of our stuff in the RCMP vehicle, including us and headed to Carmacks.

The guy driving the other vehicle (from Faro and of course we know him well- small northern world), got a lift back to Faro with the other RCMP member. Once in Carmacks, we dealt with insurance as much as is possible on a weekend, got a tow truck to come out, filed the police report, and then put our feet up. Thank you so much Tim and Michelle Lynch for making us feel right at home!!

The next day, we borrowed our friend's van and went into Whitehorse. We were hoping to rent a truck and still be able haul our load of lumber back to Faro. The lumber is already paid for, packaged together and ready to go. But the only rental we could get was a small car. Uggg. So the trailer is still in Carmacks, lumber is still in Whitehorse and we are now back in Faro.

We are really hoping that our truck can be fixed. I am pretty sure the other truck will be a total write-off. It definitely screws up all of the plans we had for a number of weeks. I am really disappointed about having to put all of our plans on hold and I know that we are going to have a lot of chaos in the coming weeks. But I am so thankful that we were all uninjured!

Thanks All

2011-06-03T09:17:00.001-07:00

Thank you everyone for the messages on my last post. Between the messages left here, sent to my email and on facebook, I am feel ready to take on the world again. I am so appreciative of all the kind words.

So moving on!

I have the camper pretty much packed for our first outing of the summer. It is a combined camping/shopping trip to Whitehorse. I wanted to be out in the bush camping, but we really needed to head into town to buy mainly lumber for our backyard projects. The weekend should be rather entertaining! We are actually going to camp in our friends yard in Carmacks on the way in. Then on Saturday we have to get new tires on our trailer, buy lumber, buy some other odds and ends and then we are hoping to hit up the Copperbelt Railway and maybe the Transportation Museum. I have no clue where we will be Saturday night. If I left it up to my husband we would be camping in the Walmart parking lot, but I am hoping for Wolf Creek campground or maybe out to Twin Lakes. Who knows! Then we will come home on Sunday afternoon.

I hope everyone else enjoys their weekend, even if the weather looks to be a little less than the perfect summer weather we have been having so far.

Failure, Anxiety, Death and a New Handbag

2011-05-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

The blog has been darn quiet on the weight loss front this year. After last years huge success of a 50lb loss, this year has been a complete bomb.

I had a goal of losing 50lbs a year for three years. Hurray for year one! But then I was overcome with anxiety on year two. So many people were congratulating me, saying how I have inspired them.... but instead of it helping me, it seemed to throw me into a downward spiral that I am still trying to recover from. I don't know how to take compliments. And I have a debilitating fear of letting people down.

And what do I do when I am anxious? I eat. What do I do when I feel like a failure? Or am even afraid to fail? I eat.

Last month, had my children been chocolate coated I am pretty sure I would have eaten them too.

So how bad is it? Shall I share the embarrassing news? Well I have gained back 23.5lbs. Actually, I gained back 30lbs, but I have lost 6.5lbs since getting back from our trip to Cape Breton. Failure.

Wonderful friends have told me not to worry, this is a journey. But serious, would someone just had me a fracking GPS already??

I have even exercised more than I ever have in my entire life! However, the more I exercised the more I lost focus on my eating. I can eat that... I worked out today.

It was getting better.

I had a beautiful email from my friend Indigo saying that I had inspired her to lose some weight and she herself had just hit 50lbs. Ten days later she was dead and I was a wreck. I consoled myself with food instead of learning to grieve.

I feel like I have wasted the last six months. The more I let myself feel those emotions, the more I eat to numb them. Why can't there be a magic pill for this?

I don't know how to fix it. I don't know how to reduce my anxiety. But I am going to find some good out of it.

I know that if I am sewing, I am probably not eating. So not eating means new sewing projects. So to end this embarrassing post of my weight loss failure for 2011 on a positive point... check out the new bag I made out of a leather coat:

I think he needs a bigger bed...

2011-05-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Cavan has taken to hauling every stuffed animal he can find into his bed with him at night. Hunter does the exact same thing. Check out the photo, there is barely any room for him in the bed! He hauled in his Marno (the stuffed martin), a little puppy, a huge teddy bear, a rather large polar bear and then a big puppy stolen from his big brother. There is also a regular pillow, his moose pillow and his favorite blanket. Definitely time to get him a bigger bed.

Bad Ass Squirrel Hunters

2011-05-27T19:57:00.001-07:00

The boys and I spent the day with a good friend of mine and her two young children. These kids have all been playing together their entire little lives and it warms my heart to watch them together. Of course it still also gets my blood pressure up when they all start beating on each other with sticks or throwing sand/rocks at each other, but that is just normal kid stuff, right?

My friend had her .22 out to get rid of squirrels around their cabin. At one point we thought a squirrel was hiding in the wood pile, so she grab her rifle and went to find it. The boys didn't want to miss out on the action. They picked up their own guns (pieces of 2x2 and a super-soaker) and headed out squirrel hunting.

I loved every single moment of it. My brother and I started using our guns (bb guns and then .22's) first on squirrels. My mother had it out for all squirrels since we lived in a cedar house and they loved to chew on it. By the time I was 10 and my brother 8, I am pretty sure there wasn't a squirrel in a five mile radius of our home. We moved up to grouse and I shot my first deer when I was 14. Since then I have shot a number of deer, a moose and even a caribou.

It won't be long before these boys trade out pieces of wood and super-soakers for bb guns and my friend will never have to worry about a squirrel again!

Quillian taking a break while hunting:

BadAss Cavan looking for action:

Hurry mom! We hear a squirrel!!

Over the bridge and out into the wild:

Trouble comes in three's:

My friend Delphine and her trusty .22:

The Value of a Dime

2011-05-27T08:01:00.001-07:00

or even a nickel.

There are a number of values that we are working to instill in our boys. One that we wanted to start working on with them at a young age was the value of money. Hunter is nearly four and he is starting to ask about money and buying toys.

Matt and I both grew up in families that worked hard for everything they had. There were no handouts and no welfare cheques. We did without a lot of extras and learned to save our pennies if there was something special we wanted to purchase. Those values have followed us into our adult lives. We manage our money very well now, have little debt, invest ten percent of our income and are also able to live comfortably off of just Matt's salary. I am proud of our accomplishments and am thankful my parents instilled these values in me.

As a kid I started making extra money by picking up pop cans in the ditches. Sunday drives with the parents were also bottle gathering expeditions. I have many a memory of digging through garbage cans in the campgrounds too! Just like a raven. So this is where we decided to start Hunter off. I am sure most people start by paying their kids to do chores around the house, but we believe that those chores are just part of being a family and you don't receive money for that.

On our last trip to Ross River I told Hunter that all of the beer and pop cans that he saw in the ditch could be turned into money if he picked them up and took them to the recycling depot. And that later that money could be used to buy a new toy that he could take on the plane for our vacation to Cape Breton. Well he was hooked right away! He walked 2km picking up pop cans as we went. Cavan even pitched in! Over those 2km of picking up only the cans easily in reach, he had filled two of the white Glad kitchen garbage bags. When we returned to Faro, we told him he could have all the cans from our house if he helped load them into the truck.

So with the truck loaded with cans, we took him down to the recycling depot to get his money. Hunter also had to unload all of the cans off of the truck. Hunter had actually took me literally when I said we would turn the cans into money. As Peter, the man in charge of our recycling centre, sorted the cans, Hunter kept asking how he would turn them into money! So cute.

In the end, Hunter ended up with $17 from all of his cans. We held his money for him for a few days until we got to Whitehorse. In Walmart he picked out a toy and one for his little brother for the plane. We had the most fantastic cashier that day too. Hunter took the toys and money up on his own, told the cashier about all the cans he picked up and even remember to say thank you as she passed him his change.

It was one of those proud parent moments for sure.

So what are you doing to instill the value of money in your children? How was it instilled in you?

Watching intently as Peter sorts the cans:

Let's tally this up:

Receiving his money:

And a huge thank you to Peter Kazda at the recycling depot for making this such a fun experience for Hunter!

Headbands and Bracelets

2011-05-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

I have been coming up with new ways to use the little scraps of fur I have left. Furs are so expensive that I really hate wasting any little bit. While out on vacation in Cape Breton I picked up a few headbands and bracelets and thought I was add a bit of fur to spicy them up a bit. I have done a few so far, and am really happy with the results!

Lynx fur puff:

Seal fur flower:

Seal fur bow:

Seal fur flower on a bracelet:

Lynx fur puff:

Neat Shot

2011-05-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

The big red dump truck at the entrance to town has this Faro sign on it. I took a photo of it this weekend and just really like how it looks.

I don't want to jinx it, but....

2011-05-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure we have a potty trained kid!!

Over the last three weeks Cavan has only had three accidents. Twice due to diarrhea from too much rich food while on vacation and the other we were outside too long in the rain and just forgot to take him in to pee.

He now tells us when he has to pee or poo. If Hunter is using the bathroom, Cavan insists on going then as well. This has been an incredible easy process! He also loves peeing outside and so far we have peed on fire hydrants, garbage dumpsters, trees and dad's truck tires. He is wearing his big boy underwear during the day and a pull up at night even though he has woken up dry for a month now.

Soon this will be a diaper free household. Not bad for a little guy just 25 months old!

Backyard Progress

2011-05-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

Take a tour around my backyard! We are on year two of our landscaping projects. I am pretty sure it will last another five years, but I am so impressed with the progressive we have made in such a short amount of time.

Top level.
Today I put down grass seed and we still need to build planter boxes around the edges of the walls to keep the kids in. And by the end of the summer, the spot that I stood in to take this picture will be covered by a huge back deck!!

The sandbox play area:

Fire pit and our free score benches:

Hunter helped me sprinkle grass seed and then told me we needed to make a scarecrow to keep the birds from eating our seeds. He picked out the clothing and I put it together. He told me to give it an angry face so the birds would be scared. As you can tell, my artistic abilities are nil:

The new slide! I had wanted to connect the levels with slides ever since we started working on the back yard. Matt's folks thought they would make great birthday presents! So thank you Nanny and Poppy for funding the slides. We are still waiting for the second slide to arrive in Whitehorse. Since the planter boxes/kid retainer aren't done yet, we put a couple pieces of plywood up so the kids don't fall over the edge when getting on the slide.

Matt extended the wall to join with the upper wall and then added some stairs. This level is still just gravel and hopefully next year we start hauling dirt for it.

This is our awesome score from last fall. The daycare in Faro hasn't run in years and the equipment was put up for silent auction. We got this piece for $500 ($400 more than the next closest bid- damn!). Matt and the neighbour got it up and ready to go! Thank you Jim!!

The boys love the new equipment!!
Hopefully in another month you will see a slide coming down off of the second level. Still a heap of work to do, but I am pretty sure at the end of it we will have the best backyard in Faro! And that window on our house on the right? That will be a glass door and big window opening up to the back deck. Sigh. I cannot wait to sit up there!!

Trying for a nice photo....

2011-05-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

Trying to convince two little boys to sit still for 10 seconds so mom can take a nice photo of them is impossible. One looks while the other looks away. Switch. Switch. Then one nearly falls off the bridge. Finally, dad takes control of the situation....

My Little Dreamer

2011-05-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

The night before we left Cape Breton I discovered that Cavan is a vivid dreamer just like me.

Cavan and I slept in the same bed most of the vacation. That night, Cavan sat straight up in bed and yelled, "Squirrel!". I thought he was asking for Hunter's stuffed squirrel that he carries around everywhere. I told him squirrel was with Hunter and he said, "Squirrel chase me!". He was looking very upset, so I asked him if he was dreaming about squirrels and again he told me, "Squirrel chase me. Chase me outside. Squirrel try get me." It took me quite a while to coax him back to sleep.

The next morning I asked him if he had a bad dream and his eyes got huge, his expression changed to a look of fear and he told me about squirrels chasing him again. This time he added that the squirrels chased him and Hunter and that he was "scar-it". Poor kid- the squirrel dream really scared the crap out of him!

Holiday so far...

2011-05-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

Rain.

Rain.

Wind.

Sidways rain.

Train!

Cabin!

Rain.

Shopping!

Lobster!

Lobster!

Rain.

Movie theatre!

Cabin!

Rain.

Train!

Rain.

Rain.

Rain.

Everything other than the rain has been absolutely fantastic! We head home to the Yukon on Wednesday, so give me a week and I will get some photos up of our rather wet vacation.

Northern Boys

2011-05-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

While travelling, I really notice the difference in how we are raising our northern boys.

Our small town northern boys say hi to everyone they see when we walk around Faro (and whenever we are in Whitehorse too). They stop and wave to every vehicle that drives past during our daily walks around town. And they run.... far out of reach of our hands... because it is safe in our small northern town.

I am pretty sure our boys have said hi to a thousand different people in two days while in airports, planes and now here in Cape Breton. They are confused when people don't say hi back! Their little arms are tired from trying to wave to every vehicle they see. They readily tell everyone their name and where they are from. And they still run.... far out of reach of our hands... and I hate having to yell to tell them to come back.

People seem genuinely surprised when our kids wave and say hi to them. Is it that odd?

Hunter and I walked to the grocery store today and he had about 10 little grannies all fall in love with him there. The store was filled with seniors and Hunter waved and talked to each and every one that we passed. A couple of them looked like they would have loved to have pinched his cheeks as he grinned for them.

I am so glad we are raising our boys in a small northern town.

And We're Off!

2011-05-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

We are leaving for the land of lobster, liquor and Liberals.... hmmmmm... Well at least they got the first two right!

Today we are driving into Whitehorse and tomorrow we will be flying out to Cape Breton for a two week visit with Matt's family. I am pretty sure my mother-in-law's head is about to explode with excitement!

And remember, if you are looking for something to do this weekend, head over to Faro for the 8th annual Crane and Sheep Festival! The cranes have been flying overhead all week and the sheep are hanging out on the hills. Don't miss this fantastic event!!

Passing on those genes

2011-05-03T18:50:00.001-07:00

My mother scanned a family photo and emailed it to me this week. She is sure she sees a resemblance between my grandfather and his uncle with my two boys. I think I see it a bit too. Check it out for yourself!

My great-grandmother (father's side) with her three boys (l to r) my grandfather Hugh, little brother Allan and big brother Frank.
Gotta love how the little guy is dressed!! I wonder if she was hoping for a little girl on their third try.

We think my grandfather resembles Hunter and my great uncle looks like Cavan. What do you think?

Trains

2011-05-01T22:09:00.001-07:00

Trains. All day we talk about trains. We watch Thomas the Tank Engine, the train episodes of Might Machines and Dinosaur Train (when in Ross River where there is satellite). Meal dishes are lined up as trains, pillows are lined up as trains, kitchen chairs are lined up as trains, anything that can be moved is lined up like a train. We sing train songs- Thomas the tank engine rolling along du du du du du..... Misty Island rescue here we go HERE WE GO... Little boys crawl on their hands and knees making wheeshing, wooshing, peep-peeping, chugging sounds.

Oh my.

I know a lot more than trains that I ever though I would.

Last week another blogger posted a video of the White Pass train route being cleared of snow by the steam train and this amazing snow clearing gadget that goes on the front. We have watched that video over and over.

Last year we took them on a six hour train trip on the White Pass train over the Skagway. Hunter was in heaven. We plan on doing the trip again this year and I think their little heads will explode with glee.

And of course, every day we go down to the basement to play trains. The boys have two wooden track sets that we put together in every possible combination. The train table was too small for our ideas, so we took the building to the floor. I am a master train track builder- enough so that I would call it my third degree and probably my useful to date.

Oh the life of a mom to little boys.

I wouldn't trade it for the world.

:)

Yet another fantastic track built by mom:

Yum! Soup!

2011-04-28T19:38:00.001-07:00

Every week I get a new recipe with my organic veggie order from the Alpine Bakery in Whitehorse. I usually give them a try if I have all of the ingredients. The recipe this week was a real winner!

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (sub. Yams)
2 large leeks, chopped (pale green and white parts only!)
4 cups veggie broth
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch garlic, peeled and grated (optional)
1/4c fresh cilantro (optional)
1.5tsp sage
1tsp pepper
2tsp salt
2tsp nutmeg
2tsp cinnamon
2tsp cumin

In a medium sized soup pot, saute the leeks in oil until translucent. Throw in the carrots, celery, garlic, and ginger and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, veggie broth and spices and bring to a boil. Once soup boils, bring down heat to a simmer and let sit for 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft. Puree, reheat, throw in cilantro and serve! I added a dollop of sour cream to each bowl as well.

Delicious and easy!

Sew, sew, sewing!

2011-04-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

I am so happy with how my sewing skills have improved in the last few years! I am trying projects now that I only dreamt about when I started this hobby. Maybe in another couple of years I will have the skills to attempt a seal fur purse (too bad you won't be around to see that one, Indigo).

The gorgeous Ella wearing my new hat:

Yep, this hat just adds to her cuteness:

And my very first (successful) headband! This is out of fox fur, fleece and is adjustable with a velcro piece in the back.
This is Ella's mama, Vicky, looking beautiful as usual:

And slippers!! The pair I have been wearing for the last four years (bought when we were up in Nunavut), were in a pretty sorry state. So I tore them apart to make a pattern. My first attempt and love how they look!

Anyone else have issues with NWTel?

2011-04-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

Well I am sure all of you are.

But I am wondering if anyone else from the communities is getting an odd reading with NWTel's online tracking of your internet usage.

Yesterday I was under 15 gig. Then when I checked this evening it reports that I am over a whopping 66gig and my bill is $360.

There is just no way this is right. Just regular internet cruising between yesterday and today. No, I was not suckered into Netflix and watching movies without realizing it was using bandwidth.

Check yours out folks! I am hoping that mine isn't the only one reading wonky online.

New Project

2011-04-23T21:52:00.001-07:00

A while back I bought a really cute girls hat in hopes that I could figure out how it was made and then make some of my own. This weekend I have finally found the time to give it a try and am very happy with the results!

The hat is in the shape of a bonnet, lined with fleece and the outside is commander material which is wind and water resistant. There is a fur ruff on it and ties that can be done up under the chin. It will fit a girl from ages 1 to 4.

I cannot wait to make a couple more of them!

The soft fleece and fox fur trim:

Side view:

Back view:

I have actually made two so far. This is the side view of the second. I left the back un-gathered to see the effect. I think I am happier with the gathering I did on the first one, although this is still darn cute.

An adorable little model from Faro!

Birthday Highlights

2011-04-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

My baby boy turned two yesterday. TWO! I was sure it was just two months ago that I gave birth to him.

He had a fantastic day! We gave him a Little People Car Garage in the morning and it entertained him all day. At playgroup we brought down a rice krispie train that all of the kids devoured. Later on, he figured that since he is two he is now indestructible so he tried to ride his tricycle down the stairs. He had his favorite meal of pancakes and bacon for supper and then some neighbours joined us for chocolate cake and ice cream. It took him a while to power down from all the excitement of the day. About 45 minutes after we put him in his crib, we could hear him singing Happy Birthday to himself. So adorable!

Opening presents:

Yaaaa!! It is just what I wanted!

Just a wee bit excited at playgroup:

It's my birthday! It's my birthday!

When did he get so big??

It's Potty Time! Excellent!

2011-04-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hunter has his little shadow wherever he goes- including the bathroom. Cavan tries to mimic his brother at each and every task and it is pretty darn cute.

Cavan has been asking to sit on the potty right after Hunter does for the last few months. There has been no real action though up until the last few days. Cavan has all of a sudden requested no diapers and is sitting on our small potty a number of times throughout the day. And he is actually peeing on it now! Yesterday I only had to change one wet diaper and one pee off the floor. Today is going just as well, although diapers will still be covering that little butt when we head out of the house.

Potty training for Hunter clicked right when he was two and a half, so Cavan is taking to it early (he is two years old today!). But the earlier we are done with diapers, the better. I am really looking forward to being a diaper free house!